Control signaling for radio access networks

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a method of operating a feedback radio node in a radio access network. The feedback radio node being is configured with a plurality of sets of transmission resources for transmission of control information. Different of the sets are associated with different size classes of control information and/or different transmission formats for control information to be transmitted. The method includes transmitting control information having a number A of bits of acknowledgement information, and a number M of bits of measurement information, wherein the control information is transmitted on a resource of one of the sets based on a reference size for the measurement information. The disclosure also pertains to related methods and devices.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure pertains to wireless or telecommunication communicationtechnology, in particular to radio access technology, e.g. for mobilecommunication.

BACKGROUND

Currently, radio telecommunication technology of 5^(th) Generation isbeing developed, with the goal to serve a large variety of use cases.Accordingly, the related systems have to be very flexible, and new kindsof signaling and information may be required to be transmitted. However,flexibility in many cases incurs signaling overhead, which should beavoided or limited for good performance.

This is particularly relevant for acknowledgement signaling processes,which are used to ensure correct reception of transmitted data and thusare run in parallel to many transmissions.

SUMMARY

It is an object of this disclosure to provide approaches allowingflexible control signaling without incurring undesirably large signalingoverhead, in particular in the context of transmission of measurementinformation with adaptive size. The approaches are particularlyadvantageously implemented in a 5^(th) Generation (5G) telecommunicationnetwork or 5G radio access technology or network (RAT/RAN), inparticular according to 3GPP (3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project, astandardisation organization). A suitable RAN may in particular be a RANaccording to NR, for example release 15 or later, or LTE Evolution. Itshould be noted that in the following, the terms data (sub)structure anddata block (sub)structure may be considered to be used synonymously.

There is disclosed a method of operating a feedback radio node like auser equipment in a radio access network. The feedback radio node isbeing configured with a plurality of sets of transmission resources fortransmission of control information, wherein different of the sets areassociated with different size classes of control information and/ordifferent transmission formats for control information to betransmitted. The method comprises transmitting control informationcomprising a number A of bits of acknowledgement information, and anumber M of bits of measurement information, wherein the controlinformation is transmitted on a resource of one of the sets based on areference size for the measurement information. The method may comprisedetermining the set of resources based on the reference size.

Moreover, there is described a feedback radio node for a radio accessnetwork. The feedback radio node is adapted for being configured orconfigurable with a plurality of sets of transmission resources fortransmission of control information, wherein different of the sets areassociated with different size classes and/or different transmissionformats for control information to be transmitted. The feedback radionode also is adapted for transmitting control information comprisingnumber A of bits of acknowledgement information, and a number M of bitsof measurement information, wherein the control information istransmitted on a resource of one of the sets based on a reference sizefor the measurement information. The feedback radio node may comprise,and/or be adapted for utilising, processing circuitry and/or radiocircuitry, in particular a transmitter and/or receiver and/ortransceiver, for transmitting the control information and/or beingconfigured and/or determining the set of resources comprising theresource used for transmission, e.g. based on the reference size.

Also, there is disclosed a method of operating a signaling radio node ora network node arrangement in a radio access network, the methodcomprising receiving control information from a feedback radio node. Thefeedback radio node is configured, e.g., by the signaling radio node ornetwork node arrangement, with a plurality of sets of resources fortransmission of control information, wherein different of the sets areassociated with different size classes and/or different transmissionformats for control information to be transmitted. The transmittedcontrol information comprises a number A of bits of acknowledgementinformation, and a number M of bits of measurement information. Thecontrol information is received on a reception resource, the receptionresource being associated to a resource of one of the set of resourceson which the control information is transmitted based on a referencesize for the measurement information. The method may comprisecommunicating with the feedback radio node based on the received controlinformation.

A signaling radio node or a network node arrangement for a radio accessnetwork may be considered. The signaling radio node or the network nodearrangement may be adapted for receiving control information from afeedback radio node, the control information comprising a number A ofbits of acknowledgement information, and a number M of bits ofmeasurement information, wherein the feedback radio node is configured,e.g. by the signaling radio node or the arrangement, with a plurality ofsets of resources for transmission of control information, whereindifferent of the sets are associated with different size classes and/ordifferent transmission formats for control information. The signalingradio node or network node arrangement is adapted for receiving thecontrol information on a reception resource, the reception resourcebeing associated to a resource of one of the set of resources on whichthe control information is transmitted based on a reference size for themeasurement information. It may be considered that the signaling radionode or the network node arrangement is adapted for communicating withthe feedback radio node based on the received control information. Thesignaling radio node or the network node arrangement may comprise,and/or be adapted for utilising, processing circuitry and/or radiocircuitry, in particular a transmitter and/or receiver and/ortransceiver, for receiving and/or configuring and/or communicatingand/or determining the set of resources.

Generally, alternatively, or additionally to the set of resources, theformat used for transmitting the control information may be consideredto be based on the reference size, e.g. determined based thereon, whichmay be based on the association of sets of resources and formats.

The measurement information may comprise channel state information,and/or may be determined based on measurements, which may be performedon reference signals or data signaling from the network, e.g. thesignaling radio node and/or node arrangement. Measurement informationmay generally be determined based on a measurement configuration, whichmay be configured to the feedback radio node, e.g. semi-staticallyand/or with RRC signaling, and/or with physical layer signaling or othersignaling. Measurement information like channel state information(specifically, CSI), may comprise CQI and/or PMI and/or RI and/orbeamforming information. It may generally be considered that measurementinformation comprises two components, one of which may be with fixedsize (e.g., based on a configuration or predefined), and one which mayhave variable or adaptive size, e.g. based on measurement results and/orresolution. Examples of such components may be referred to as CSI part 1for the fixed size component, and CSI part 2 for the other component.Measurement information may comprise one or more of such component orinformation pairings, which may be associated to different measurementsand/or carriers and/or processes and/or signals. The first component maycomprise a size indicator or size indication indicating the size of thesecond component. Thus, a receiver like a signaling radio node ornetwork node arrangement may need to decode the first component, todetermine the size indicator, before it decodes the second componentbased on the size indicator. The variable or adaptive size may differfrom transmission occasion to occasion, and in particular may not bepredictable or configurable.

In some variants, the measurement information may comprise one or moreinformation pairings, each information pairing comprising a firstcomponent and a second component, wherein the second component of eachinformation pairing may have an adaptive size. Alternatively, oradditionally, the measurement information may comprise one or moreinformation pairings, each information pairing comprising a firstcomponent and a second component, wherein the first component of eachinformation pairing comprises a size indication indicating a size of thesecond component. Different second components may have different sizes,which may vary differently.

For measurement information having one or more components with variableor adaptive size, the total size of information to be transmitted may beunpredictable and fluctuate significantly. This may in particular leadto different sets of resources being used for different transmission,and the receiver not knowing which set to monitor for the controlinformation. This is inefficient, as it costs resources, in particular,as it may incur numerous blind detection processes.

It may generally be considered that the set of resources is based on thereference size, in particular determined based on the reference size.Generally, the size of information may be represented by the number ofbits representing the information. The reference size may be a bit sizeindicating a size of the measurement information, in particular of thevariable part and/or representing the variable or adaptive part.Optionally, in some cases, the fixed part and/or the size of theacknowledgment information may be represented also. A reference size maybe associated to each variable component, e.g. representing an averagevalue or maximum value for a variable component or anotherrepresentative value, and/or may represent the sum of variable sizecomponents, and optionally of fixed size components and/or theacknowledgment information (number A). It should be noted that the sizeindicator may contribute to the fixed size of a component.

By considering the reference size a reliable and/or predictable sizeand/or size class may be determined, such that transmitter and receivermay independently be enabled to determine a set of resources and/orformats to transmit and/or monitor for reception. Thus, the set ofresources may be considered to be based on, or be determined by, thereference size. The actual resource used for transmitting may beselected by an indicator in control signaling, e.g. DCI or SCIsignaling, for example an ARI or UCI indicator. Hence, the resource maybe known for transmitter and receiver as well. It should be noted thatthe reference size may represent a size estimate used for selection ofthe set of resources and/or the associated format; it may be consideredthat the reference size selects the sets of resources and/or the format.

It may be considered that the number M of bits of the measurementinformation is based on the format or size range associated to the setof transmission resources of the resource the control information istransmitted on. M may additionally be dependent on the number A ofacknowledgement information bits. The sum of A+M may at maximum be aslarge as the format and/or resource used for transmission may carry,e.g. based on a used modulation and coding scheme. If the allowed size,which is dependent on an estimate represented by the reference size, notthe real value, is not large enough to carry all information bits, bitsof measurement information may be dropped. In particular, variable sizecomponents may be dropped, e.g. according to size, and if the size isstill larger than the allowed size, fixed size components may be droppedas well. As basing the set of resources and/or formats (which may bedifferent message formats, e.g. PUCCH or PSCCH formats) on the referencesize may consider the number A, the size should allow carrying theacknowledgement information. Accordingly, the structure of the controlinformation may be variable. It may be assumed that both transmitter andreceiver know the same rules for reducing M (e.g., due to the networkconfiguring the feedback radio node accordingly, e.g. with signalingfrom the signaling radio node or the node arrangement).

There is also considered a program product comprising instructionsadapted for causing processing circuitry to control and/or perform amethod as described herein. Also, a carrier medium arrangement carryingand/or storing a program product as described herein is proposed.

In general, for a UE or feedback radio node, different sets of resourcesmay be configured for control information and/or transmission on aphysical control channel like PUCCH or PSCCH. The sets may be configuredwith control signaling, in particular RRC layer signaling and/orsemi-statically, e.g. by a signaling radio node or node arrangement.Each set may comprise one or more resources. Different sets may comprisedifferent numbers of resources, or the same. A resource may be anindicatable resource, and/or may be pointed to an indicator, which maybe transmitted in control signaling to be received by the feedback radionode. Such an indicator may for example be an ARI or UCI pointer orother indicator. The (maximum) number of resources in a set (indicatableresources) may correspond to the number of resources indicatable withsuch an indicator, e.g. based in its size in bits. For example, thenumber may be a multiple or power of 2, e.g. 2 or 4. Each set may beassociated to a control information size class and/or an associatedformat. The size class may for example indicate a payload size for thecontrol information, or a part thereof, e.g. acknowledgementinformation, and/or a range of sizes. One or more of the size classesand/or ranges may be configurable, e.g. semi-statically or with RRCsignaling.

The set of resources to be used for the transmission may be based on thesize class of the control information, e.g. as determined. The sizeclass of control information may be based on the reference size and maybe based on the number of bits A of the acknowledgment information to betransmitted. The number A may be configured, e.g. by the network, inparticular the signaling radio node and/or node arrangement, and/ordepend on the codebook used.

Determining control information may comprise and/or be based onmeasurements and/or decoding and/or demodulation and/or error detection,e.g. according to the type of control information. Receiving controlinformation may comprise decoding and/or demodulating and/orinterpreting received signaling based on the assumption it has a formator structure or content, e.g. based on A and M. It may be consideredthat receiving control information comprises signaling received atspecific resources with specific information and/or messages and/orspecific transmission sources, e.g. feedback radio nodes. Generally, areception resource may be related to a transmission resource based on asignaling delay between the transmitter and the receiver.

A transmission resource may be a time and/or frequency resource, e.g. aresource element or a group of resource elements. A resource may extendin time over one or more symbols, e.g. within a slot or in some cases,across one or more slot boundaries. It may be considered that a resourceextends in time over one or more subcarriers, and/or one or morephysical resource blocks. In some cases, a resource may be equal orshorter in time domain than a slot duration (which may be 14 symbols, oranother value, e.g. a value below 20 symbols). A resource may beconfigured for, and/or be associated to, a channel, e.g. a controlchannel, which may be a physical channel, e.g. a PUCCH or PSCCH, and/orfor a specific type of control information or signaling. One or morespecific transmission message formats may be associated to a resource.Such a format may for example specify payload size and/or size range,and/or structure, and/or modulation and coding, and/or repetition rateand/or code rate and/or duration of transmission, e.g. of a message. Aresource may be larger (in time and/or frequency) than necessary tocarry associated and/or configured control information.

A set of resources, and/or the sets of resources, may be configured withone or more messages, e.g. semi-statically and/or with RRC signaling,and/or dynamically, e.g. with physical layer signaling, like DCI or SCIsignaling. It may be considered that a set of resources is configuredwith semi-static and/or RRC layer signaling, and one of the resources isindicated (configured) with dynamic and/or physical layer signaling.This may particularly be performed for resource/s associated to, and/orconfigured for, acknowledgement information. Generally, it may beconsidered that the network, e.g. a signaling radio node and/or nodearrangement, configures a feedback radio node, in particular with thetransmission resources. A resource may in general be configured with oneor more messages. Different resources may be configured with differentmessages, and/or with messages on different layers or layercombinations. The size of a resource may be represented in symbolsand/or subcarriers and/or resource elements and/or physical resourceblocks (depending on domain), and/or in number of bits it may carry,e.g. information or payload bits, or total number of bits. The set ofresources, and/or the resources of the sets, may pertain to the samecarrier and/or bandwidth part, and/or may be located in the same slot,or in neighboring slots.

Acknowledgement information may pertain to one or more acknowledgementsignaling processes, e.g. HARQ processes or ARQ processes. Measurementinformation may be represented by channel state information (e.g., CSI),e.g. channel quality information (e.g., CQI) and/or rank information(e.g., RI) and/or precoding information (e.g., PMI), and/or beamforminginformation (which in some cases may be considered a type of its own).The number of bits A of acknowledgment information may be configured orconfigurable, e.g. based on a HARQ configuration or codebook, which maybe configured via RRC layer signaling and/or semi-statically, and/ordynamically, e.g. with one or more counters like a Downlink AssignmentIndicator (DAI) or Uplink grant counter or total DAI.

Control information on one resource may be considered to be transmittedin a message having a specific format. A message may comprise orrepresent bits representing payload information (in particular, thecontrol information, which may be of one or of both the first and secondtype) and coding bits, e.g. for error coding.

Receiving control information may comprise receiving one or more controlinformation messages. It may be considered that receiving controlsignaling comprises demodulating and/or decoding and/or detecting, e.g.blind detection of, one or more messages, in particular a messagecarried by the control signaling, e.g. based on an assumed set ofresources, which may be searched and/or listened for the controlinformation. It may be assumed that both sides of the communication areaware of the configurations, and may determine the set of resources,e.g. based on the reference size.

Acknowledgement information or feedback signaling carrying it maypertain to signaling scheduled by control signaling, and/or to thecontrol signaling itself, in particular if it is of command type. Thefeedback signaling may pertain to a plurality of subject transmission,which may be on different channels and/or carriers, and/or may comprisedata signaling and/or control signaling. The feedback signaling may bebased on a codebook, which may be based on one or more size indicationsand/or assignment indications, which may be received with a plurality ofcontrol signalings and/or control messages, e.g. in the same ordifferent transmission timing structures, and/or in the same ordifferent (target) sets of resources. Transmitting feedback signalingmay comprise determining the codebook, e.g. based on control informationin one or more control information messages. A codebook may pertain tofeedback signaling at a single and/or specific instant, e.g. a singlePUCCH or PUSCH transmission, and/or in one message or with jointlyencoded and/or modulated feedback information.

It may be considered that control signaling (e.g., DCI or SCI) maycomprise information indicating the triggering of feedback signaling.Triggering feedback signaling may comprise indicating that feedbacksignaling should be transmitted, and/or indicating one or more resourcesand/or timing for feedback signaling, and/or indicating subjectsignaling or subject transmission to which the feedback signaling maypertain.

Control information may be considered to have a control informationstructure, which may be represented by the bit pattern. It may beconsidered that a control information structure like a bit pattern mayindicate a size and/or content of control information, in particular thesize of a bit pattern representing the control information. A controlinformation structure may indicate the content and/or arrangement ofbits in of the control information. In particular it may indicate amapping of bits or subpatterns of bits of a bit pattern representing thecontrol information to information and/or fields, and/or may indicatethe function or meaning of bits or subpatterns.

Generally, the control information may be included in a controlinformation message, which may be carried by the control signaling.

A feedback radio node may in particular be a user equipment or terminal.However, in some scenarios, e.g. backhaul or relay scenarios, a feedbackradio node may be a network node, in particular a base station and/orgNodeB.

A signaling radio node may for example be a network node. However, insome scenarios, e.g. sidelink scenarios, the signaling radio node may bea user equipment or terminal. A signaling radio node arrangement, alsoreferred to as network node arrangement, may comprise one or more radionodes, in particular network nodes, which may be of the same ordifferent types. Different nodes of the arrangement may be adapted for,and/or provide, different functionalities described herein. Inparticular, different nodes may configure different codebooks, and/ordifferent nodes may perform configuring and perceiving. A signalingradio node arrangement may in some variants represent a radio accessnetwork, and/or a heterogenous network (HetNet), and/or provide dual (ormultiple) connectivity, e.g. comprising an anchor node and a boosternode, and/or one or more of each or either. The radio nodes of a nodearrangement may comprise suitable interfaces for communication betweenthem, e.g. communication interfaces and/or corresponding circuitry.

Control information and/or control signaling carrying it or associatedto it may be represented by control information message, in particular aphysical layer message and/or DCI message and/or SCI message. A controlinformation message may also be referred to as control message. Inuplink, the message may be a UCI message and/or a message on a PUCCHresource. Generally, the set of resources may comprise resources forPUCCH transmission, or for PSCCH transmission, or for another channel,or dedicated to control information as described herein, which maycomprise acknowledgement information, and, depending on A, M and theformat, measurement information.

Control information transmitted by a feedback radio node, e.g. asfeedback signaling, may be transmitted on resources, which may bescheduled and/or indicated and/or configured, e.g. in one or moreresource pools or sets, one of which may be selected or selectable withcontrol information. Configuring the resources may be performed by asignaling radio node or arrangement, e.g. with higher-layer signalinglike RRC and/or MAC signaling. The resources may be associated to aspecific channel. Different resources or pools may be associated todifferent channels. Examples of such channels are PUSCH or PUCCH orPSCCH or PSSCH, or a URLLC channel in uplink or sidelink. The resourcesand/or sets of resources may pertain to slot-based or non-slot based(mini-slot) transmissions. Different resources and/or sets of resourcesmay pertain to different transmission timing structures and/or timingtypes (slot-based or non-slot based).

An assignment indication like an acknowledgment resource indication(ARI) may indicate one or more resource pools, which may be configured,and/or a resource or set or resources within a resource pool, forexample depending on its resolution and/or number of bits. An assignmentindication may in general be transmitted in control signaling, e.g. DCIand/or SCI, in particular a scheduling assignment.

Generally, a codebook may be selected based on resources scheduled fortransmission of the feedback signaling, e.g. in a resource structureand/or resource pool and/or region or set. The resources may beassociated to a channel, in particular a physical and/or controlchannel, for example PUCCH or PSCCH. The resources may be scheduled withcontrol signaling, e.g. a control message like a DCI or SCI message,which may in some variants implicitly or explicitly indicate theassociation to a channel and/or transmission format. Scheduling theresources may be considered an example of configuring. Schedulingresources may comprise indication resources from a set of resources,which may be configured and/or configurable, in particular with higherlayer control signaling, like RRC signaling and/or MAC signaling.

Independent, or in combination with other criteria, it may be consideredthat the codebook is selected based on subject transmissioncharacteristics, e.g. resources used for the subject transmission,and/or channel, and/or number of layers, e.g. in MIMO scenarios, and/ortransport block size, and/or retransmission status (e.g., number ofretransmission of the current transport block or code block group).

In general, the codebook may be selected based on a format indicated forthe feedback signaling, e.g. a transmission format. The transmissionformat may be indicated implicitly or explicitly. For example, atransmission format may be associated to a channel and/or resources,which may be indicated by a mapping. The mapping may in some variants beconfigured or configurable, e.g. with higher layer control signalinglike RRC and/or MAC signaling, and/or be predefined. The transmissionformat may be indicated, e.g. configured and/or scheduled, with controlsignaling, in particular a control message, which may be physical layersignaling, and/or a DCI or SCI message. A transmission format may forexample define a structure of a message comprising and/or carrying thefeedback information, e.g. in terms of header information and/oradditional information and/or MCS and/or duration and/or maximum numberof bits, etc. In general, a transmission format may pertain to aspecific channel, e.g. a physical and/or control channel like PUCCH orPSCCH. A transmission format in some examples may represent short orlong transmission, e.g. short or long PUCCH or PSCCH, and/or atransmission of 2 bits or less, or larger than 2 bits.

In general, a subpattern of bits of the feedback information may pertainto control signaling or data signaling (as examples of subjecttransmissions), and/or an associated message and/or data structure orsubstructure, in particular a control message or transport block or codeblock group.

Different feedback codebooks may pertain to different carriers and/ordifferent carrier arrangements and/or different types of signalingand/or different types of control signaling and/or different types ofdata signaling. A type may be related to the message type, and/orchannel and/or format and/or resources associated to the signaling. Acontrol message type may be distinguished between fixed-size message(which may for example be fallback control messages) and messages withconfigurable size. The size may be measured in bits and/or modulationsymbols.

Feedback signaling, in particular acknowledgement signaling and/oracknowledgement information, may generally pertain to subjecttransmission. Subject transmission may be data signaling or controlsignaling. The transmission may be on a shared or dedicated channel.Data signaling may be on a data channel, for example on a PDSCH orPSSCH, or on a dedicated data channel, e.g. for low latency and/or highreliability, e.g. a URLLC channel. Control signaling may be on a controlchannel, for example on a common control channel or a PDCCH or PSCCH,and/or comprise one or more DCI messages or SCI messages. In some cases,the subject transmission may comprise, or represent, referencesignaling. For example, it may comprise DM-RS and/or pilot signalingand/or discovery signaling and/or sounding signaling and/or phasetracking signaling and/or cell-specific reference signaling and/oruser-specific signaling, in particular CSI-RS. Feedback based onreference signaling may comprise measurement information, e.g. CQI/CSIinformation and/or related information, which may be determined based onsubject transmission comprising and/or representing reference signaling.A subject transmission may pertain to one scheduling assignment and/orone acknowledgement signaling process (e.g., according to identifier orsubidentifier), and/or one subpattern of feedback signaling.

It may be considered that transmitting the feedback signaling, inparticular of acknowledgement information, is based on determiningwhether the subject transmission/s has or have been received correctly,e.g. based on error coding and/or reception quality. Reception qualitymay for example be based on a determined signal quality.

A system comprising a plurality of radio nodes as described herein, inparticular a network node and one or more user equipments, may beconsidered.

Acknowledgement or feedback information may represent and/or compriseone or more bits, in particular a pattern of bits. Multiple bitspertaining to a data structure or substructure or message like a controlmessage may be considered a subpattern. The structure or arrangement offeedback or acknowledgement information may indicate the order, and/ormeaning, and/or mapping, and/or pattern of bits (or subpatterns of bits)of the information. An acknowledgment configuration, in particular thefeedback configuration, may indicate the size of, and/or arrangementand/or mapping of bits of, acknowledgement information carried by theacknowledgement signaling the configuration pertains to. Such aconfiguration may be referred to as codebook and may be associated to afirst transmission resource or a set of resources. The structure ormapping may in particular indicate one or more data block structures,e.g. code blocks and/or code block groups and/or transport blocks and/ormessages, e.g. command messages, the acknowledgement informationpertains to, and/or which bits or subpattern of bits are associated towhich data block structure. In some cases, the mapping may pertain toone or more acknowledgement signaling processes, e.g. processes withdifferent identifiers, and/or one or more different data streams. Theconfiguration may indicate to which process/es and/or data stream/s theinformation pertains. Generally, the acknowledgement information maycomprise one or more subpatterns, each of which may pertain to a datablock structure, e.g. a code block or code block group or transportblock. A subpattern may be arranged to indicate acknowledgement ornon-acknowledgement, or another retransmission state like non-schedulingor non-reception, of the associated data block structure. It may beconsidered that a subpattern comprises one bit, or in some cases morethan one bit. It should be noted that acknowledgement information may besubjected to significant processing before being transmitted withacknowledgement signaling. Different configurations may indicatedifferent sizes and/or mapping and/or structures and/or pattern.

An acknowledgment signaling process (providing acknowledgmentinformation) may be a HARQ process, and/or be identified by a processidentifier, e.g. a HARQ process identifier or subidentifier.Acknowledgement signaling and/or associated acknowledgement informationmay be referred to as feedback or acknowledgement feedback. It should benoted that data blocks or structures to which subpatterns may pertainmay be intended to carry data (e.g., information and/or systemic and/orcoding bits). However, depending on transmission conditions, such datamay be received or not received (or not received correctly), which maybe indicated correspondingly in the feedback. In some cases, asubpattern of acknowledgement signaling may comprise padding bits, e.g.if the acknowledgement information for a data block requires fewer bitsthan indicated as size of the subpattern. Such may for example happen ifthe size is indicated by a unit size larger than required for thefeedback.

Acknowledgment information may generally indicate at least ACK or NACK,e.g. pertaining to an acknowledgment signaling process, or an element ofa data block structure like a data block, subblock group or subblock, ora message, in particular a control message. Generally, to anacknowledgment signaling process there may be associated one specificsubpattern and/or a data block structure, for which acknowledgmentinformation may be provided.

An acknowledgment signaling process may determine correct or incorrectreception, and/or corresponding acknowledgement information, of a datablock like a transport block, and/or substructures thereof, based oncoding bits associated to the data block, and/or based on coding bitsassociated to one or more data block and/or subblocks and/or subblockgroup/s. Acknowledgement information (determined by an acknowledgementsignaling process) may pertain to the data block as a whole, and/or toone or more subblocks or subblock groups. A code block may be consideredan example of a subblock, whereas a code block group may be consideredan example of a subblock group. Accordingly, the associated subpatternmay comprise one or more bits indicating reception status or feedback ofthe data block, and/or one or more bits indicating reception status orfeedback of one or more subblocks or subblock groups. Each subpattern orbit of the subpattern may be associated and/or mapped to a specific datablock or subblock or subblock group. In some variants, correct receptionfor a data block may be indicated if all subblocks or subblock groupsare correctly identified. In such a case, the subpattern may representacknowledgement information for the data block as a whole, reducingoverhead in comparison to provide acknowledgement information for thesubblocks or subblock groups. The smallest structure (e.g.subblock/subblock group/data block) the subpattern providesacknowledgement information for and/or is associated to may beconsidered its (highest) resolution. In some variants, a subpattern mayprovide acknowledgment information regarding several elements of a datablock structure and/or at different resolution, e.g. to allow morespecific error detection. For example, even if a subpattern indicatesacknowledgment signaling pertaining to a data block as a whole, in somevariants higher resolution (e.g., subblock or subblock group resolution)may be provided by the subpattern. A subpattern may generally compriseone or more bits indicating ACK/NACK for a data block, and/or one ormore bits for indicating ACK/NACK for a subblock or subblock group, orfor more than one subblock or subblock group.

A subblock and/or subblock group may comprise information bits(representing the data to be transmitted, e.g. user data and/ordownlink/sidelink data or uplink data). It may be considered that a datablock and/or subblock and/or subblock group also comprises error one ormore error detection bits, which may pertain to, and/or be determinedbased on, the information bits (for a subblock group, the errordetection bit/s may be determined based on the information bits and/orerror detection bits and/or error correction bits of the subblock/s ofthe subblock group). A data block or substructure like subblock orsubblock group may comprise error correction bits, which may inparticular be determined based on the information bits and errordetection bits of the block or substructure, e.g. utilising an errorcorrection coding scheme, e.g. LDPC or polar coding. Generally, theerror correction coding of a data block structure (and/or associatedbits) may cover and/or pertain to information bits and error detectionbits of the structure. A subblock group may represent a combination ofone or more code blocks, respectively the corresponding bits. A datablock may represent a code block or code block group, or a combinationof more than one code block groups. A transport block may be split up incode blocks and/or code block groups, for example based on the bit sizeof the information bits of a higher layer data structure provided forerror coding and/or size requirements or preferences for error coding,in particular error correction coding. Such a higher layer datastructure is sometimes also referred to as transport block, which inthis context represents information bits without the error coding bitsdescribed herein, although higher layer error handling information maybe included, e.g. for an internet protocol like TCP. However, such errorhandling information represents information bits in the context of thisdisclosure, as the acknowledgement signaling procedures described treatit accordingly.

In some variants, a subblock like a code block may comprise errorcorrection bits, which may be determined based on the information bit/sand/or error detection bit/s of the subblock. An error correction codingscheme may be used for determining the error correction bits, e.g. basedon LDPC or polar coding or Reed-Mueller coding. In some cases, asubblock or code block may be considered to be defined as a block orpattern of bits comprising information bits, error detection bit/sdetermined based on the information bits, and error correction bit/sdetermined based on the information bits and/or error detection bit/s.It may be considered that in a subblock, e.g. code block, theinformation bits (and possibly the error correction bit/s) are protectedand/or covered by the error correction scheme or corresponding errorcorrection bit/s. A code block group may comprise one or more codeblocks. In some variants, no additional error detection bits and/orerror correction bits are applied, however, it may be considered toapply either or both. A transport block may comprise one or more codeblock groups. It may be considered that no additional error detectionbits and/or error correction bits are applied to a transport block,however, it may be considered to apply either or both. In some specificvariants, the code block group/s comprise no additional layers of errordetection or correction coding, and the transport block may compriseonly additional error detection coding bits, but no additional errorcorrection coding. This may particularly be true if the transport blocksize is larger than the code block size and/or the maximum size forerror correction coding. A subpattern of acknowledgement signaling (inparticular indicating ACK or NACK) may pertain to a code block, e.g.indicating whether the code block has been correctly received. It may beconsidered that a subpattern pertains to a subgroup like a code blockgroup or a data block like a transport block. In such cases, it mayindicate ACK, if all subblocks or code blocks of the group ordata/transport block are received correctly (e.g. based on a logical ANDoperation), and NACK or another state of non-correct reception if atleast one subblock or code block has not been correctly received. Itshould be noted that a code block may be considered to be correctlyreceived not only if it actually has been correctly received, but alsoif it can be correctly reconstructed based on soft-combining and/or theerror correction coding.

A subpattern may pertain to one acknowledgement signaling process and/orone carrier like a component carrier and/or data block structure or datablock. It may in particular be considered that one (e.g. specific and/orsingle) subpattern pertains, e.g. is mapped by the codebook, to one(e.g., specific and/or single) acknowledgement signaling process, e.g. aspecific and/or single HARQ process. It may be considered that in thebit pattern, subpatterns are mapped to acknowledgement signalingprocesses and/or data blocks or data block structures on a one-to-onebasis. In some variants, there may be multiple subpatterns (and/orassociated acknowledgment signaling processes) associated to the samecomponent carrier, e.g. if multiple data streams transmitted on thecarrier are subject to acknowledgement signaling processes. A subpatternmay comprise one or more bits, the number of which may be considered torepresent its size or bit size. Different bit n-tupels (n being 1 orlarger) of a subpattern may be associated to different elements of adata block structure (e.g., data block or subblock or subblock group),and/or represent different resolutions. There may be considered variantsin which only one resolution is represented by a bit pattern, e.g. adata block. A bit n-tupel may represent acknowledgement information(also referred to a feedback), in particular ACK or NACK, andoptionally, (if n>1), may represent DTX/DRX or other reception states.ACK/NACK may be represented by one bit, or by more than one bit, e.g. toimprove disambiguity of bit sequences representing ACK or NACK, and/orto improve transmission reliability.

The acknowledgement information or feedback information may pertain to aplurality of different transmissions, which may be associated to and/orrepresented by data block structures, respectively the associated datablocks or data signaling. The data block structures, and/or thecorresponding blocks and/or signaling, may be scheduled for simultaneoustransmission, e.g. for the same transmission timing structure, inparticular within the same slot or subframe, and/or on the samesymbol/s. However, alternatives with scheduling for non-simultaneoustransmission may be considered. For example, the acknowledgmentinformation may pertain to data blocks scheduled for differenttransmission timing structures, e.g. different slots (or mini-slots, orslots and mini-slots) or similar, which may correspondingly be received(or not or wrongly received). Scheduling signaling may generallycomprise indicating resources, e.g. time and/or frequency resources, forexample for receiving or transmitting the scheduled signaling.

A radio node, in particular a signaling radio node, and/or acorresponding arrangement, may generally be adapted for scheduling datablocks or subject transmission for transmission. Configuring a feedbackradio node or an UE may comprise such scheduling and/or associateddetermining and/or configuring. The signaling radio node, and/or acorresponding arrangement, may be adapted for, and/or perform,transmitting of subject transmission.

Signaling may be considered to carry a message and/or information, ifthe message and/or information is represented in the (modulated)waveform of the signaling. In particular, extraction of a message and/orinformation may require demodulation and/or decoding of the signaling.Information may be considered to be included in a message if the messagecomprises a value and/or parameter and/or bit field and/or indication orindicator representing the information, or more than one or acombination thereof. Information included in such a message may beconsidered to be carried by the signaling carrying the message, and viceversa.

Transmitting acknowledgment information/feedback and/or associatedsignaling on resources may comprise multiplexing acknowledgementinformation and data/data signaling on the transmission resources, e.g.,for UCI on PUSCH scenarios. In general, transmitting acknowledgementinformation and/or feedback may comprise mapping the information to thetransmission resources and/or modulation symbol/s, e.g. based on amodulation and coding scheme and/or transmission format. Theacknowledgement information may be punctured or rate-matched.Acknowledgement information pertaining to different subjecttransmissions and/or acknowledgment signaling processes may be mappeddifferently. For example, acknowledgement information pertaining to latesubject transmissions and/or having a size smaller than a threshold size(e.g., 3 or 2 bits) may be punctured, whereas acknowledgment informationpertaining to earlier (non-late) subject transmissions and/or having asize equal to or larger than the threshold size may be rate-matched.

Feedback signaling, e.g. acknowledgement feedback, may generally betransmitted on resources and/or on a channel and/or according to atransmission format according to one or more configurations, which mayfor example be selectable based on one or more indications of controlinformation, e.g. of the control message carrying the controlinformation in DCI or SCI.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings are provided to illustrate concepts and approachesdescribed herein, and are not intended to limit their scope. Thedrawings comprise:

FIG. 1, showing an exemplary radio node implemented as a user equipment;and

FIG. 2, showing an exemplary radio node implemented as a network node.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following, approaches are described for illustrative purposes inthe context of NR RAT. However, they are generally applicable with othertechnologies. Also, communication in uplink and downlink between asignaling radio node like a network node and a feedback radio node likean UE is described by way of example. The approaches should not beconstrued to be limited to such communication, but can also be appliedfor sidelink or backhaul or relay communication. For ease of reference,in some cases it is referred to a channel to represent signaling ortransmission on the channel. A PUSCH may represent uplink datasignaling, a PDSCH downlink data signaling, a PDCCH downlink controlsignaling (in particular, one or more DCI messages like schedulingassignments or grants), a PUCCH uplink control signaling, in particularsignaling of UCI. In some cases, UCI may be transmitted on PUSCH orassociated resource instead of on PUCCH.

A carrier may be portioned into bandwidth parts (BWP). Bandwidth partscan have multiple usages. One of the envisioned usage scenarios is toenable multiple numerologies mixed in frequency-domain on the samecarrier. A BWP configuration may indicate a set of frequency-domainresources, and an associate numerology. A UE can be configured with oneor multiple BWP parts. DL and UL configurations (and/or SLconfigurations) may be are independent from each other. Typically, eachBWP has its own associated CORESET for the scheduling DCI.

For NR, transmission of various control information from the UE to thenetwork may be considered. Examples of such uplink control information(UCI) are hybrid-ARQ (HARQ) acknowledgements, channel-state information(CSI), and scheduling request (SR). The UCI can be transmitted on aseparate control channel, PUCCH, occurring either at the end of the slotinterval or during the slot interval, and/or be multiplexed with dataand transmitted on PUSCH (“UCI on PUSCH”).

There may be considered multiple formats defined for PUCCH that can beused to transmit control information as shown in the table below.

TABLE 1 Possible PUCCH format definitions PUCCH format Number of symbolsin a slot Number of UCI bits 0 1-2  ≤2 1 4-14 ≤2 2 1-2  >2 3 4-14 >2 44-14 >2

PUCCH formats 0 and 2 are referred to as short PUCCH formats since theyare transmitted only over 1 or two OFDM symbols in a slot. PUCCH formats1, 3 and 4 are referred to as long PUCCH formats since they can betransmitted in up to 14 OFDM symbols (without slot aggregation) and evenacross multiple slots if PUCCH slot aggregation is configured. As shownin the table, each both long and short PUCCH formats are subdivideddepending on the number of UCI bits they may contain.

A single slot may contain multiple transmissions of a single PUCCHformat as well as multiple PUCCH formats which may or may not betransmitted by the same UE. For instance, a slot spanning 14 OFDMsymbols may contain a long PUCCH spanning 12 OFDM symbols followed by ashort PUCCH spanning two OFDM symbols.

Different PUCCH formats may be used for different purposes or representdifferent types of control information. The PUCCH formats that contain 2bits or less can generally multiplex multiple UEs in the same time andfrequency resources, with the long PUCCH being able to multiplex moreusers than the short PUCCH. PUCCH format 4 can multiplex multiple UEswith each UE having more than 2 bits.

In any given slot, the UE may have to transmit one or more of thefollowing of control information, e.g. triggered by control signalingreceived from the network.

-   -   HARQ acknowledgements (HARQ-ACK), and/or    -   Channel state information (CSI), and/or    -   Scheduling Requests (SR)

CSI information may be scheduled to be transmitted periodically, e.g.,once every N slots, or aperiodically, e.g. triggered by DCI. SR may betransmitted by the UE when the UE has some data to be sent. HARQ-ACKinformation is transmitted to acknowledge whether subject signaling likePDSCH transmissions (or control signaling) in the downlink weresuccessfully received or not. HARQ-ACK may consist of subpatterns like asingle bit to acknowledge an entire transport block or multiple bits,each representing a code block group (CBG), i.e., a set of code blocksamong the code blocks that comprise a transport block.

The PUCCH resource to be used for each of the different types of UCI cangenerally be controlled by the gNB. This can be done via explicitresource assignments either through semi-static configuration (RRCsignaling) or through dynamic signaling with an ACK/NACK resourceindicator (ARI) sent in downlink control information (DCI) messages.

In addition, the UE can also determine PUCCH resources implicitly. Forexample, the PUCCH resource can be determined based on the number of UCIbits to be transmitted in a slot. PUCCH resources for HARQ-ACKtransmission for a scheduled PDSCH may also be determined implicitly bythe control channel element (CCE) at which the received control channelmessage (PDCCH) scheduling the PDSCH begins. Such implicit resourcedetermination can reduce the overhead incurred for dynamic signaling andhelp to avoid collisions between the PUCCH resources determined bydifferent UEs for transmission of UCI.

In general, (acknowledgement) feedback may be considered to pertain toinformation or signaling or a message if is determined based onevaluating error coding included into the information and/or calculatedfor the information, and/or if it is adapted to indicate a receptionstatus of the information or signaling or message, e.g. acknowledgementor non-acknowledgement; and/or if it based on measurements performed onthe signaling.

UL and DL scheduling may be performed using DL assignments and UL grantssent in DCI messages. To enable scheduling flexibility, format andphysical resources of a DCI message on PDCCH may vary. For example,there are different DCI formats containing different control informationfields, which may have different payload sizes.

The UE may monitor a set of downlink resources for possible DCItransmission and, if a valid DCI is detected (e.g. a downlink assignmentor an uplink grant or command type message), it follows the content ofthe DCI. The monitoring is known as blind decoding, in which the UE istrying, for different combinations of DCI sizes and formats, to decode aPDCCH candidate possibly containing valid DCI.

A UE can be configured with different search spaces (sets of resources)at different aggregation levels and can also be configured to monitordifferent DCI payloads. A search space is either common or targetspecific, e.g. UE or ID-specific. A first search space type may be usedfor messages common to many users, such as messages related to initialaccess and/or paging, but can sometime also be used for UE specificsignaling. In a UE specific search space, the majority of UE specificDCIs will be sent.

PUCCH can for example carry UCI, e.g. ACK/NACK (or more generally,feedback related to HARQ), measurement information like CQI/CSI, SR, orbeam related information. NR defines a variety of different PUCCHformats, which can be grouped into short and long PUCCH formats.

A UE can be configured with multiple PUCCH formats or different controlinformation types and/or with different associated transmissionresources.

In NR, a carrier can support slot-based transmissions and non-slot-basedtransmissions (mini-slots). For slot-based transmissions, a UE might beconfigured with CBG. For non-slot-based transmission a CBG configurationmight be less useful, especially if the transmissions are short (one orfew code blocks). Also, if a UE is scheduled with fallback DCI, it mayin some cases not use a CBG configuration. If a UE is scheduled with anon-slot-based transmission (e.g., to provide low latency), the gNB islikely to request early HARQ feedback to determine if a transmission hasbeen successful. This can be done by indicating a different PUCCHresource than that one used for other ongoing transmissions. In suchcases, a set of feedback configurations to select from may beadvantageous.

In NR, a UE can be configured with multiple bandwidth parts. A HARQcodebook configuration can be associated with a bandwidth part, anddepending on the bandwidth part of the transmission, a different HARQcodebook configuration may be used. Different bandwidth parts can beconfigured with different numerologies, i.e. also a numerology can beassociated with a HARQ codebook configuration and depending whichnumerology is used for PDCCH and/or PDSCH a certain HARQ codebookconfiguration is selected. Several bandwidth parts/numerologies canpoint to the same HARQ codebook configuration.

NR supports multiple PUCCH/Cell groups. A PUCCH group is a set of DLcomponent carriers together with an UL component carrier which is usedfor HARQ feedback of the DL carriers in the group. Different PUCCHgroups can be associated with different HARQ codebook configurations,especially dynamic vs. semi-statically configured HARQ codebook.

NR may allow combined transmission of ACK/NACK (representingacknowledgement information), CSI Part1, and CSI Part 2 (representing afirst and a second components of an information pairing of measurementinformation). CSI part 2 payload can vary, and the gNB/eNB (signalingradio node) may need to decode CSI Part 1 first to determine CSI Part 2payload. An NR UE (feedback radio node) may be configured with multiplePUCCH resource sets. A first set for 1 to 2 bit payload, e.g. forACK/NACK or UCI or more generally control information. A second set maybe for 3 to N₁ bit payload, a third set for N₁+1 to N₂ payload, etc.Accordingly, different size classes may be defined, which are associatedto different sets of resources. For different payloads or differentsets, different format may be used. Generally, the number of sets may beconfigurable, for example to 3 or 4. An indicator like ARI (ACK/NACKresource pointer) or UCI resource pointer may select a resource within aset, whereas the set is selected based on the payload. The payload maybe considered to represent the size of control information. It isproposed to use a reference size to replace the variable size(s), e.g.due to CSI part 2 components intended to be transmitted, allowing apredictable selection of set of resources and format. Since the gNB doesnot know the CSI Part 2 payload size (before decoding CSI Part 1), itdoes not know which PUCCH resource set the UE selects for transmission,such that the gNB may need to blindly detect PUCCH in resources indifferent sets.

It is proposed that for PUCCH resource set determination, the UE mayassume for each of its intended CSI Part 2 reports a reference size,e.g. the maximum possible CSI Part 2 size (different CSI Part 2 reportsmay or may not have the same max size), or another reference size. Fordifferent parts, different reference sizes may be used. The referencesizes may be configured or configurable, or predetermined; it may beassumed that both UE and gNB are aware of the reference size/s.Alternatively, some defined function of min, max CSI Part2 sizes may beused to determine (virtual) payload that is used to determine PUCCHresource set; or a configured/specified reference CSI size may be used.Once the PUCCH resource set is determined, already agreed priority anddropping rules may be used if necessary. It should be noted that fortransmitting the CSI Part 2 (comprising one or more Part 2s), the actualsize is relevant, not the reference size, which is amax/virtual/configured size. If the largest PUCCH resource of a set istoo small to carry the complete payload, the UE may drop, e.g. in apriority order, first CSI Part 2 components, e.g. according to size, andthen may drop CSI Part1 components. Dropped components may not betransmitted with the control information, at least on the resource usedfor transmission of the not dropped parts, e.g. the acknowledgementinformation.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a radio node, in particular a terminal orwireless device 10, which may in particular be implemented as a UE (UserEquipment). Radio node 10 comprises processing circuitry (which may alsobe referred to as control circuitry) 20, which may comprise a controllerconnected to a memory. Any module of the radio node 10, e.g. acommunicating module or determining module, may be implemented in and/orexecutable by, the processing circuitry 20, in particular as module inthe controller. Radio node 10 also comprises radio circuitry 22providing receiving and transmitting or transceiving functionality(e.g., one or more transmitters and/or receivers and/or transceivers),the radio circuitry 22 being connected or connectable to the processingcircuitry. An antenna circuitry 24 of the radio node 10 is connected orconnectable to the radio circuitry 22 to collect or send and/or amplifysignals. Radio circuitry 22 and the processing circuitry 20 controllingit are configured for cellular communication with a network, e.g. a RANas described herein, and/or for sidelink communication. Radio node 10may generally be adapted to carry out any of the methods of operating aradio node like terminal or UE disclosed herein; in particular, it maycomprise corresponding circuitry, e.g. processing circuitry, and/ormodules.

FIG. 2 schematically show a radio node 100, which may in particular beimplemented as a network node 100, for example an eNB or gNB or similarfor NR. Radio node 100 comprises processing circuitry (which may also bereferred to as control circuitry) 120, which may comprise a controllerconnected to a memory. Any module, e.g. transmitting module and/orreceiving module and/or configuring module of the node 100 may beimplemented in and/or executable by the processing circuitry 120. Theprocessing circuitry 120 is connected to control radio circuitry 122 ofthe node 100, which provides receiver and transmitter and/or transceiverfunctionality (e.g., comprising one or more transmitters and/orreceivers and/or transceivers). An antenna circuitry 124 may beconnected or connectable to radio circuitry 122 for signal reception ortransmittance and/or amplification. Node 100 may be adapted to carry outany of the methods for operating a radio node or network node disclosedherein; in particular, it may comprise corresponding circuitry, e.g.processing circuitry, and/or modules. The antenna circuitry 124 may beconnected to and/or comprise an antenna array. The node 100,respectively its circuitry, may be adapted to perform any of the methodsof operating a network node or a radio node as described herein; inparticular, it may comprise corresponding circuitry, e.g. processingcircuitry, and/or modules. The radio node 100 may generally comprisecommunication circuitry, e.g. for communication with another networknode, like a radio node, and/or with a core network and/or an internetor local net, in particular with an information system, which mayprovide information and/or data to be transmitted to a user equipment.

References to specific resource structures like transmission timingstructure and/or symbol and/or slot and/or mini-slot and/or subcarrierand/or carrier may pertain to a specific numerology, which may bepredefined and/or configured or configurable. A transmission timingstructure may represent a time interval, which may cover one or moresymbols. Some examples of a transmission timing structure aretransmission time interval (TTI), subframe, slot and mini-slot. A slotmay comprise a predetermined, e.g. predefined and/or configured orconfigurable, number of symbols, e.g. 6 or 7, or 12 or 14. A mini-slotmay comprise a number of symbols (which may in particular beconfigurable or configured) smaller than the number of symbols of aslot, in particular 1, 2, 3 or 4 symbols. A transmission timingstructure may cover a time interval of a specific length, which may bedependent on symbol time length and/or cyclic prefix used. Atransmission timing structure may pertain to, and/or cover, a specifictime interval in a time stream, e.g. synchronized for communication.Timing structures used and/or scheduled for transmission, e.g. slotand/or mini-slots, may be scheduled in relation to, and/or synchronizedto, a timing structure provided and/or defined by other transmissiontiming structures. Such transmission timing structures may define atiming grid, e.g., with symbol time intervals within individualstructures representing the smallest timing units. Such a timing gridmay for example be defined by slots or subframes (wherein in some cases,subframes may be considered specific variants of slots). A transmissiontiming structure may have a duration (length in time) determined basedon the durations of its symbols, possibly in addition to cyclicprefix/es used. The symbols of a transmission timing structure may havethe same duration, or may in some variants have different duration. Thenumber of symbols in a transmission timing structure may be predefinedand/or configured or configurable, and/or be dependent on numerology.The timing of a mini-slot may generally be configured or configurable,in particular by the network and/or a network node. The timing may beconfigurable to start and/or end at any symbol of the transmissiontiming structure, in particular one or more slots.

There is generally considered a program product comprising instructionsadapted for causing processing and/or control circuitry to carry outand/or control any method described herein, in particular when executedon the processing and/or control circuitry. Also, there is considered acarrier medium arrangement carrying and/or storing a program product asdescribed herein.

A carrier medium arrangement may comprise one or more carrier media.Generally, a carrier medium may be accessible and/or readable and/orreceivable by processing or control circuitry. Storing data and/or aprogram product and/or code may be seen as part of carrying data and/ora program product and/or code. A carrier medium generally may comprise aguiding/transporting medium and/or a storage medium. Aguiding/transporting medium may be adapted to carry and/or carry and/orstore signals, in particular electromagnetic signals and/or electricalsignals and/or magnetic signals and/or optical signals. A carriermedium, in particular a guiding/transporting medium, may be adapted toguide such signals to carry them. A carrier medium, in particular aguiding/transporting medium, may comprise the electromagnetic field,e.g. radio waves or microwaves, and/or optically transmissive material,e.g. glass fiber, and/or cable. A storage medium may comprise at leastone of a memory, which may be volatile or non-volatile, a buffer, acache, an optical disc, magnetic memory, flash memory, etc.

A system comprising one or more radio nodes as described herein, inparticular a network node and a user equipment, is described. The systemmay be a wireless communication system, and/or provide and/or representa radio access network.

Moreover, there may be generally considered a method of operating aninformation system, the method comprising providing information.Alternatively, or additionally, an information system adapted forproviding information may be considered. Providing information maycomprise providing information for, and/or to, a target system, whichmay comprise and/or be implemented as radio access network and/or aradio node, in particular a network node or user equipment or terminal.Providing information may comprise transferring and/or streaming and/orsending and/or passing on the information, and/or offering theinformation for such and/or for download, and/or triggering suchproviding, e.g. by triggering a different system or node to streamand/or transfer and/or send and/or pass on the information. Theinformation system may comprise, and/or be connected or connectable to,a target, for example via one or more intermediate systems, e.g. a corenetwork and/or internet and/or private or local network. Information maybe provided utilising and/or via such intermediate system/s. Providinginformation may be for radio transmission and/or for transmission via anair interface and/or utilising a RAN or radio node as described herein.Connecting the information system to a target, and/or providinginformation, may be based on a target indication, and/or adaptive to atarget indication. A target indication may indicate the target, and/orone or more parameters of transmission pertaining to the target and/orthe paths or connections over which the information is provided to thetarget. Such parameter/s may in particular pertain to the air interfaceand/or radio access network and/or radio node and/or network node.Example parameters may indicate for example type and/or nature of thetarget, and/or transmission capacity (e.g., data rate) and/or latencyand/or reliability and/or cost, and/or indicate quality of serviceand/or latency and/or data throughput and/or prioritisation, inparticular they may indicate a capability to provide such, respectivelyone or more estimates thereof. The target indication may be provided bythe target, or determined by the information system, e.g. based oninformation received from the target and/or historical information,and/or be provided by a user, for example a user operating the target ora device in communication with the target, e.g. via the RAN and/or airinterface. For example, a user may indicate on a user equipmentcommunicating with the information system that information is to beprovided via a RAN, e.g. by selecting from a selection provided by theinformation system, for example on a user application or user interface,which may be a web interface. An information system may comprise one ormore information nodes. An information node may generally compriseprocessing circuitry and/or communication circuitry. In particular, aninformation system and/or an information node may be implemented as acomputer and/or a computer arrangement, e.g. a host computer or hostcomputer arrangement and/or server or server arrangement. In somevariants, an interaction server (e.g., web server) of the informationsystem may provide a user interface, and based on user input may triggertransmitting and/or streaming information provision to the user (and/orthe target) from another server, which may be connected or connectableto the interaction server and/or be part of the information system or beconnected or connectable thereto. The information may be any kind ofdata, in particular data intended for a user of for use at a terminal,e.g. video data and/or audio data and/or location data and/orinteractive data and/or game-related data and/or environmental dataand/or technical data and/or traffic data and/or vehicular data and/orcircumstantial data and/or operational data. The information provided bythe information system may be mapped to, and/or mappable to, and/or beintended for mapping to, communication or data signaling and/or one ormore data channels as described herein (which may be signaling orchannel/s of an air interface and/or used within a RAN and/or for radiotransmission). It may be considered that the information is formattedbased on the target indication and/or target, e.g. regarding data amountand/or data rate and/or data structure and/or timing, which inparticular may be pertaining to a mapping to communication or datasignaling and/or one or more data channel/s. Mapping information to datasignaling and/or data channel/s may be considered to refer to using thesignaling/channel/s to carry the data, e.g. on higher layers ofcommunication, with the signaling/channel/s underlying the transmission.A target indication generally may comprise different components, whichmay have different sources, and/or which may indicate differentcharacteristics of the target and/or communication path/s thereto. Aformat of information may be specifically selected, e.g. from a set ofdifferent formats, for information to be transmitted on an air interfaceand/or by a RAN as described herein. This may be particularly pertinentsince an air interface may be limited in terms of capacity and/or ofpredictability, and/or potentially be cost sensitive. The format may beselected to be adapted to the transmission indication, which may inparticular indicate that a RAN or radio node as described herein is inthe path (which may be the indicated and/or planned and/or expectedpath) of information between the target and the information system. A(communication) path of information may represent the interface/s (e.g.,air and/or cable interfaces) and/or the intermediate system/s (if any),between the information system and/or the node providing or transferringthe information, and the target, over which the information is, or is tobe, passed on. A path may be (at least partly) undetermined when atarget indication is provided, and/or the information isprovided/transferred by the information system, e.g. if an internet isinvolved, which may comprise multiple, dynamically chosen paths.Information and/or a format used for information may be packet-based,and/or be mapped, and/or be mappable and/or be intended for mapping, topackets. Alternatively, or additionally, there may be considered amethod for operating a target device comprising providing a targetindicating to an information system. More alternatively, oradditionally, a target device may be considered, the target device beingadapted for providing a target indication to an information system. Inanother approach, there may be considered a target indication tooladapted for, and/or comprising an indication module for, providing atarget indication to an information system. The target device maygenerally be a target as described above. A target indication tool maycomprise, and/or be implemented as, software and/or application or app,and/or web interface or user interface, and/or may comprise one or moremodules for implementing actions performed and/or controlled by thetool. The tool and/or target device may be adapted for, and/or themethod may comprise, receiving a user input, based on which a targetindicating may be determined and/or provided. Alternatively, oradditionally, the tool and/or target device may be adapted for, and/orthe method may comprise, receiving information and/or communicationsignaling carrying information, and/or operating on, and/or presenting(e.g., on a screen and/or as audio or as other form of indication),information. The information may be based on received information and/orcommunication signaling carrying information. Presenting information maycomprise processing received information, e.g. decoding and/ortransforming, in particular between different formats, and/or forhardware used for presenting. Operating on information may beindependent of or without presenting, and/or proceed or succeedpresenting, and/or may be without user interaction or even userreception, for example for automatic processes, or target deviceswithout (e.g., regular) user interaction like MTC devices, of forautomotive or transport or industrial use. The information orcommunication signaling may be expected and/or received based on thetarget indication. Presenting and/or operating on information maygenerally comprise one or more processing steps, in particular decodingand/or executing and/or interpreting and/or transforming information.Operating on information may generally comprise relaying and/ortransmitting the information, e.g. on an air interface, which mayinclude mapping the information onto signaling (such mapping maygenerally pertain to one or more layers, e.g. one or more layers of anair interface, e.g. RLC (Radio Link Control) layer and/or MAC layerand/or physical layer/s). The information may be imprinted (or mapped)on communication signaling based on the target indication, which maymake it particularly suitable for use in a RAN (e.g., for a targetdevice like a network node or in particular a UE or terminal). The toolmay generally be adapted for use on a target device, like a UE orterminal. Generally, the tool may provide multiple functionalities, e.g.for providing and/or selecting the target indication, and/or presenting,e.g. video and/or audio, and/or operating on and/or storing receivedinformation. Providing a target indication may comprise transmitting ortransferring the indication as signaling, and/or carried on signaling,in a RAN, for example if the target device is a UE, or the tool for aUE. It should be noted that such provided information may be transferredto the information system via one or more additionally communicationinterfaces and/or paths and/or connections. The target indication may bea higher-layer indication and/or the information provided by theinformation system may be higher-layer information, e.g. applicationlayer or user-layer, in particular above radio layers like transportlayer and physical layer. The target indication may be mapped onphysical layer radio signaling, e.g. related to or on the user-plane,and/or the information may be mapped on physical layer radiocommunication signaling, e.g. related to or on the user-plane (inparticular, in reverse communication directions). The describedapproaches allow a target indication to be provided, facilitatinginformation to be provided in a specific format particularly suitableand/or adapted to efficiently use an air interface. A user input may forexample represent a selection from a plurality of possible transmissionmodes or formats, and/or paths, e.g. in terms of data rate and/orpackaging and/or size of information to be provided by the informationsystem.

In general, a numerology and/or subcarrier spacing may indicate thebandwidth (in frequency domain) of a subcarrier of a carrier, and/or thenumber of subcarriers in a carrier and/or the numbering of thesubcarriers in a carrier. Different numerologies may in particular bedifferent in the bandwidth of a subcarrier. In some variants, all thesubcarriers in a carrier have the same bandwidth associated to them. Thenumerology and/or subcarrier spacing may be different between carriersin particular regarding the subcarrier bandwidth. A symbol time length,and/or a time length of a timing structure pertaining to a carrier maybe dependent on the carrier frequency, and/or the subcarrier spacingand/or the numerology. In particular, different numerologies may havedifferent symbol time lengths.

Signaling may generally comprise one or more symbols and/or signalsand/or messages. A signal may comprise or represent one or more bits. Anindication may represent signaling, and/or be implemented as a signal,or as a plurality of signals. One or more signals may be included inand/or represented by a message. Signaling, in particular controlsignaling, may comprise a plurality of signals and/or messages, whichmay be transmitted on different carriers and/or be associated todifferent signaling processes, e.g. representing and/or pertaining toone or more such processes and/or corresponding information. Anindication may comprise signaling, and/or a plurality of signals and/ormessages and/or may be comprised therein, which may be transmitted ondifferent carriers and/or be associated to different acknowledgementsignaling processes, e.g. representing and/or pertaining to one or moresuch processes. Signaling associated to a channel may be transmittedsuch that represents signaling and/or information for that channel,and/or that the signaling is interpreted by the transmitter and/orreceiver to belong to that channel. Such signaling may generally complywith transmission parameters and/or format/s for the channel.

Reference signaling may be signaling comprising one or more referencesymbols and/or structures. Reference signaling may be adapted forgauging and/or estimating and/or representing transmission conditions,e.g. channel conditions and/or transmission path conditions and/orchannel (or signal or transmission) quality. It may be considered thatthe transmission characteristics (e.g., signal strength and/or formand/or modulation and/or timing) of reference signaling are availablefor both transmitter and receiver of the signaling (e.g., due to beingpredefined and/or configured or configurable and/or being communicated).Different types of reference signaling may be considered, e.g.pertaining to uplink, downlink or sidelink, cell-specific (inparticular, cell-wide, e.g., CRS) or device or user specific (addressedto a specific target or user equipment, e.g., CSI-RS),demodulation-related (e.g., DMRS) and/or signal strength related, e.g.power-related or energy-related or amplitude-related (e.g., SRS or pilotsignaling) and/or phase-related, etc.

Uplink or sidelink signaling may be OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiple Access) or SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division MultipleAccess) signaling. Downlink signaling may in particular be OFDMAsignaling. However, signaling is not limited thereto (Filter-Bank basedsignaling may be considered one alternative).

A radio node may generally be considered a device or node adapted forwireless and/or radio (and/or microwave) frequency communication, and/orfor communication utilising an air interface, e.g. according to acommunication standard.

A radio node may be a network node, or a user equipment or terminal. Anetwork node may be any radio node of a wireless communication network,e.g. a base station and/or gNodeB (gNB) and/or eNodeB (eNB) and/or relaynode and/or micro/nano/pico/femto node and/or transmission point (TP)and/or access point (AP) and/or other node, in particular for a RAN asdescribed herein.

The terms wireless device, user equipment (UE) and terminal may beconsidered to be interchangeable in the context of this disclosure. Awireless device, user equipment or terminal may represent an end devicefor communication utilising the wireless communication network, and/orbe implemented as a user equipment according to a standard. Examples ofuser equipments may comprise a phone like a smartphone, a personalcommunication device, a mobile phone or terminal, a computer, inparticular laptop, a sensor or machine with radio capability (and/oradapted for the air interface), in particular for MTC(Machine-Type-Communication, sometimes also referred to M2M,Machine-To-Machine), or a vehicle adapted for wireless communication. Auser equipment or terminal may be mobile or stationary.

A radio node may generally comprise processing circuitry and/or radiocircuitry. A radio node, in particular a network node, may in some casescomprise cable circuitry and/or communication circuitry, with which itmay be connected or connectable to another radio node and/or a corenetwork.

Circuitry may comprise integrated circuitry. Processing circuitry maycomprise one or more processors and/or controllers (e.g.,microcontrollers), and/or ASICs (Application Specific IntegratedCircuitry) and/or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array), or similar. Itmay be considered that processing circuitry comprises, and/or is(operatively) connected or connectable to one or more memories or memoryarrangements. A memory arrangement may comprise one or more memories. Amemory may be adapted to store digital information. Examples formemories comprise volatile and non-volatile memory, and/or Random AccessMemory (RAM), and/or Read-Only-Memory (ROM), and/or magnetic and/oroptical memory, and/or flash memory, and/or hard disk memory, and/orEPROM or EEPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM or Electrically ErasableProgrammable ROM).

Radio circuitry may comprise one or more transmitters and/or receiversand/or transceivers (a transceiver may operate or be operable astransmitter and receiver, and/or may comprise joint or separatedcircuitry for receiving and transmitting, e.g. in one package orhousing), and/or may comprise one or more amplifiers and/or oscillatorsand/or filters, and/or may comprise, and/or be connected or connectableto antenna circuitry and/or one or more antennas and/or antenna arrays.An antenna array may comprise one or more antennas, which may bearranged in a dimensional array, e.g. 2D or 3D array, and/or antennapanels. A remote radio head (RRH) may be considered as an example of anantenna array. However, in some variants, a RRH may be also beimplemented as a network node, depending on the kind of circuitry and/orfunctionality implemented therein.

Communication circuitry may comprise radio circuitry and/or cablecircuitry. Communication circuitry generally may comprise one or moreinterfaces, which may be air interface/s and/or cable interface/s and/oroptical interface/s, e.g. laser-based. Interface/s may be in particularpacket-based. Cable circuitry and/or a cable interfaces may comprise,and/or be connected or connectable to, one or more cables (e.g., opticalfiber-based and/or wire-based), which may be directly or indirectly(e.g., via one or more intermediate systems and/or interfaces) beconnected or connectable to a target, e.g. controlled by communicationcircuitry and/or processing circuitry.

Any one or all of the modules disclosed herein may be implemented insoftware and/or firmware and/or hardware. Different modules may beassociated to different components of a radio node, e.g. differentcircuitries or different parts of a circuitry. It may be considered thata module is distributed over different components and/or circuitries. Aprogram product as described herein may comprise the modules related toa device on which the program product is intended (e.g., a userequipment or network node) to be executed (the execution may beperformed on, and/or controlled by the associated circuitry).

A radio access network may be a wireless communication network, and/or aRadio Access Network (RAN) in particular according to a communicationstandard. A communication standard may in particular a standardaccording to 3GPP and/or 5G, e.g. according to NR or LTE, in particularLTE Evolution.

Contention-based and/or grant-free transmission and/or access may bebased on resource/s that are not specifically scheduled or reserved forthe transmission or a specific device (or group of devices in somecases), and/or comprise transmission that is not unambiguouslyassociatable, by the receiver, with a transmitter, e.g. based on theresources used for transmission.

A wireless communication network may be and/or comprise a Radio AccessNetwork (RAN), which may be and/or comprise any kind of cellular and/orwireless radio network, which may be connected or connectable to a corenetwork. The approaches described herein are particularly suitable for a5G network, e.g. LTE Evolution and/or NR (New Radio), respectivelysuccessors thereof. A RAN may comprise one or more network nodes, and/orone or more terminals, and/or one or more radio nodes. A network nodemay in particular be a radio node adapted for radio and/or wirelessand/or cellular communication with one or more terminals. A terminal maybe any device adapted for radio and/or wireless and/or cellularcommunication with or within a RAN, e.g. a user equipment (UE) or mobilephone or smartphone or computing device or vehicular communicationdevice or device for machine-type-communication (MTC), etc. A terminalmay be mobile, or in some cases stationary. A RAN or a wirelesscommunication network may comprise at least one network node and a UE,or at least two radio nodes. There may be generally considered awireless communication network or system, e.g. a RAN or RAN system,comprising at least one radio node, and/or at least one network node andat least one terminal.

Transmitting in downlink may pertain to transmission from the network ornetwork node to the terminal. Transmitting in uplink may pertain totransmission from the terminal to the network or network node.Transmitting in sidelink may pertain to (direct) transmission from oneterminal to another. Uplink, downlink and sidelink (e.g., sidelinktransmission and reception) may be considered communication directions.In some variants, uplink and downlink may also be used to describedwireless communication between network nodes, e.g. for wireless backhauland/or relay communication and/or (wireless) network communication forexample between base stations or similar network nodes, in particularcommunication terminating at such. It may be considered that backhauland/or relay communication and/or network communication is implementedas a form of sidelink or uplink communication or similar thereto.

Control information or a control information message or correspondingsignaling (control signaling) may be transmitted on a control channel,e.g. a physical control channel, which may be a downlink channel or (ora sidelink channel in some cases, e.g. one UE scheduling another UE).For example, control information/allocation information may be signaledby a network node on PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) and/or aPDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) and/or a HARQ-specific channel.Acknowledgement signaling, e.g. as a form of control information orsignaling like uplink control information/signaling, may be transmittedby a terminal on a PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) and/or PUSCH(Physical Uplink Shared Channel) and/or a HARQ-specific channel.Multiple channels may apply for multi-component/multi-carrier indicationor signaling.

Signaling may generally be considered to represent an electromagneticwave structure (e.g., over a time interval and frequency interval),which is intended to convey information to at least one specific orgeneric (e.g., anyone who might pick up the signaling) target. A processof signaling may comprise transmitting the signaling. Transmittingsignaling, in particular control signaling or communication signaling,e.g. comprising or representing acknowledgement signaling and/orresource requesting information, may comprise encoding and/ormodulating. Encoding and/or modulating may comprise error detectioncoding and/or forward error correction encoding and/or scrambling.Receiving control signaling may comprise corresponding decoding and/ordemodulation. Error detection coding may comprise, and/or be based on,parity or checksum approaches, e.g. CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check).Forward error correction coding may comprise and/or be based on forexample turbo coding and/or Reed-Muller coding, and/or polar codingand/or LDPC coding (Low Density Parity Check). The type of coding usedmay be based on the channel (e.g., physical channel) the coded signal isassociated to. A code rate may represent the ratio of the number ofinformation bits before encoding to the number of encoded bits afterencoding, considering that encoding adds coding bits for error detectioncoding and forward error correction. Coded bits may refer to informationbits (also called systematic bits) plus coding bits.

Communication signaling may comprise, and/or represent, and/or beimplemented as, data signaling, and/or user plane signaling.Communication signaling may be associated to a data channel, e.g. aphysical downlink channel or physical uplink channel or physicalsidelink channel, in particular a PDSCH (Physical Downlink SharedChannel) or PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel). Generally, a datachannel may be a shared channel or a dedicated channel. Data signalingmay be signaling associated to and/or on a data channel.

An indication generally may explicitly and/or implicitly indicate theinformation it represents and/or indicates. Implicit indication may forexample be based on position and/or resource used for transmission.Explicit indication may for example be based on a parametrisation withone or more parameters, and/or one or more index or indices, and/or oneor more bit patterns representing the information. It may in particularbe considered that control signaling as described herein, based on theutilised resource sequence, implicitly indicates the control signalingtype.

A resource element may generally describe the smallest individuallyusable and/or encodable and/or decodable and/or modulatable and/ordemodulatable time-frequency resource, and/or may describe atime-frequency resource covering a symbol time length in time and asubcarrier in frequency. A signal may be allocatable and/or allocated toa resource element. A subcarrier may be a subband of a carrier, e.g. asdefined by a standard. A carrier may define a frequency and/or frequencyband for transmission and/or reception. In some variants, a signal(jointly encoded/modulated) may cover more than one resource elements. Aresource element may generally be as defined by a correspondingstandard, e.g. NR or LTE. As symbol time length and/or subcarrierspacing (and/or numerology) may be different between different symbolsand/or subcarriers, different resource elements may have differentextension (length/width) in time and/or frequency domain, in particularresource elements pertaining to different carriers.

A resource generally may represent a time-frequency and/or coderesource, on which signaling, e.g. according to a specific format, maybe communicated, for example transmitted and/or received, and/or beintended for transmission and/or reception.

A resource pool generally may indicate and/or comprise resources, inparticular time-frequency resources, e.g. time and frequency intervals,which may be contiguous or interrupted, and/or code resources. Aresource pool may in particular indicate and/or comprise resourceelements and/or resource blocks, e.g. PRBs. A radio node like a userequipment may be considered to be configured with a resource pool if itreceived corresponding control signaling configuring it therewith. Suchcontrol signaling may in particular be transmitted by a receiving radionode as described herein. The control signaling may in particular behigher layer signaling, e.g. MAC and/or RRC signaling, and/or may besemi-static or semi-persistent. In some cases, the responding radio nodeor user equipment may be considered configured with a resource pool, ifit is informed about a corresponding configuration, e.g. that it mayaccess resources in the pool for transmitting. Such a configuration insome cases may be predefined, e.g. based on a standard and/or defaultconfiguration. A resource pool may be dedicated to one responding radionode or user equipment, or in some cases shared between several. It maybe considered that a resource pool may be general, or for specific typesof signaling, e.g. control signaling or data signaling. A transmissionresource pool may in particular be for control signaling, e.g. uplinkcontrol signaling and/or sidelink control signaling, and/or may bededicated to the user equipment/responding radio node. It may beconsidered that a resource pool comprises a plurality of resourcestructures, which may be arranged in subpools or groups, e.g. pertainingand/or according to type of (received or scheduled) signaling or type ofresponse control signaling. Each group or subpool may comprise a numberof resource structures, wherein the number may be representable by anindicator and/or bit field of the selection control information. Forexample, the maximum number of resource structures in a group maycorrespond to the maximum number of different values representable bythe bit field or indicator. Different groups may have different numbersof resource structures. It may generally be considered that a groupcomprises a smaller number of resource structures than representable bythe indicator or bit field. A resource pool may represent a search spaceand/or space of availability of resources and/or resource structuresavailable for specific signaling. In particular, a transmission resourcepool may be considered to represent a (time/frequency and/or code)domain or space of resources available for response control signaling.

A signaling characteristic may represent resources and/or resourcestructures in a reception resource pool, which may be different from thetransmission resource pool. Resources and/or resource structuresrepresenting signaling characteristics of characterising signaling, inparticular downlink (or sidelink) control signaling, and/or acorresponding pool, may in particular comprise one or more CORESETs(COntrol REsource SETs), each of which may represent a group or subpool.A CORESET may be associated to a specific time interval, in particularin a transmission timing structure like a slot, e.g. one or moresymbols. It may be considered that a first CORESET is configured for the1, 2, or 3 first symbols in a slot. A second CORESET may be configuredfor one or more later symbols, e.g. the 5th and/or 6th symbol of thesame slot. In this case, the second CORESET may in particular correspondto mini-slot related signaling, e.g. comprise resource structuresassociated to short (e.g., 1 or 2 symbols) response control signaling,and/or a short latency requirement (e.g., 1 or 2 symbols), and/orreceived or scheduled transmission in a mini-slot and/or in response toa mini-slot, e.g. mini-slot data signaling. The first CORESET may beassociated to slot-based signaling, e.g. long data signaling (e.g.,longer than 2, 3 or 4 symbols), and/or response control signaling withrelaxed latency requirement (e.g., more than 1 or 2 symbols, and/orallowing transmission in a later transmission timing structure like alater slot or subframe), and/or long response control signaling, e.g.longer than 2 or 3 or 4 symbols. Generally, different CORESETs may beseparated in time domain by at least 1 symbol, in particular by 1, 2, 3or 4 symbols. Depending in which of the groups or subpools, inparticular CORESETs, characterising signaling is received, it may beassociated to a specific subpool or group of the transmission resourcepool. A reception resource pool may be predefined and/or configured tothe responding radio node, e.g. by the receiving radio node, which mayalternatively or additionally configure the transmission resource pool.Pool configuration may generally be predefined, or performed by thenetwork or a network node (e.g., a receiving radio node), or anotherresponding radio node taking the corresponding functionality and/or alsooperating as a receiving radio node, e.g. in sidelink communication (inwhich the configuration may be performed by another UE, or thenetwork/network node).

A border symbol may generally represent a starting symbol or an endingsymbol for transmitting and/or receiving. A starting symbol may inparticular be a starting symbol of uplink or sidelink signaling, forexample control signaling or data signaling. Such signaling may be on adata channel or control channel, e.g. a physical channel, in particulara physical uplink shared channel (like PUSCH) or a sidelink data orshared channel, or a physical uplink control channel (like PUCCH) or asidelink control channel. If the starting symbol is associated tocontrol signaling (e.g., on a control channel), the control signalingmay be in response to received signaling (in sidelink or downlink), e.g.representing acknowledgement signaling associated thereto, which may beHARQ or ARQ signaling. An ending symbol may represent an ending symbol(in time) of downlink or sidelink transmission or signaling, which maybe intended or scheduled for the radio node or user equipment. Suchdownlink signaling may in particular be data signaling, e.g. on aphysical downlink channel like a shared channel, e.g. a PDSCH (PhysicalDownlink Shared Channel). A starting symbol may be determined based on,and/or in relation to, such an ending symbol.

Configuring a radio node, in particular a terminal or user equipment,may refer to the radio node being adapted or caused or set and/orinstructed to operate according to the configuration. Configuring may bedone by another device, e.g., a network node (for example, a radio nodeof the network like a base station or eNodeB) or network, in which caseit may comprise transmitting configuration data to the radio node to beconfigured. Such configuration data may represent the configuration tobe configured and/or comprise one or more instruction pertaining to aconfiguration, e.g. a configuration for transmitting and/or receiving onallocated resources, in particular frequency resources. A radio node mayconfigure itself, e.g., based on configuration data received from anetwork or network node. A network node may utilise, and/or be adaptedto utilise, its circuitry/ies for configuring. Allocation informationmay be considered a form of configuration data. Configuration data maycomprise and/or be represented by configuration information, and/or oneor more corresponding indications and/or message/s

Generally, configuring may include determining configuration datarepresenting the configuration and providing, e.g. transmitting, it toone or more other nodes (parallel and/or sequentially), which maytransmit it further to the radio node (or another node, which may berepeated until it reaches the wireless device). Alternatively, oradditionally, configuring a radio node, e.g., by a network node or otherdevice, may include receiving configuration data and/or data pertainingto configuration data, e.g., from another node like a network node,which may be a higher-level node of the network, and/or transmittingreceived configuration data to the radio node. Accordingly, determininga configuration and transmitting the configuration data to the radionode may be performed by different network nodes or entities, which maybe able to communicate via a suitable interface, e.g., an X2 interfacein the case of LTE or a corresponding interface for NR. Configuring aterminal may comprise scheduling downlink and/or uplink transmissionsfor the terminal, e.g. downlink data and/or downlink control signalingand/or DCI and/or uplink control or data or communication signaling, inparticular acknowledgement signaling, and/or configuring resourcesand/or a resource pool therefor.

A resource structure may be considered to be neighbored in frequencydomain by another resource structure, if they share a common borderfrequency, e.g. one as an upper frequency border and the other as alower frequency border. Such a border may for example be represented bythe upper end of a bandwidth assigned to a subcarrier n, which alsorepresents the lower end of a bandwidth assigned to a subcarrier n+1. Aresource structure may be considered to be neighbored in time domain byanother resource structure, if they share a common border time, e.g. oneas an upper (or right in the figures) border and the other as a lower(or left in the figures) border. Such a border may for example berepresented by the end of the symbol time interval assigned to a symboln, which also represents the beginning of a symbol time intervalassigned to a symbol n+1.

Generally, a resource structure being neighbored by another resourcestructure in a domain may also be referred to as abutting and/orbordering the other resource structure in the domain.

A resource structure may general represent a structure in time and/orfrequency domain, in particular representing a time interval and afrequency interval. A resource structure may comprise and/or becomprised of resource elements, and/or the time interval of a resourcestructure may comprise and/or be comprised of symbol time interval/s,and/or the frequency interval of a resource structure may compriseand/or be comprised of subcarrier/s. A resource element may beconsidered an example for a resource structure, a slot or mini-slot or aPhysical Resource Block (PRB) or parts thereof may be considered others.A resource structure may be associated to a specific channel, e.g. aPUSCH or PUCCH, in particular resource structure smaller than a slot orPRB.

Examples of a resource structure in frequency domain comprise abandwidth or band, or a bandwidth part. A bandwidth part may be a partof a bandwidth available for a radio node for communicating, e.g. due tocircuitry and/or configuration and/or regulations and/or a standard. Abandwidth part may be configured or configurable to a radio node. Insome variants, a bandwidth part may be the part of a bandwidth used forcommunicating, e.g. transmitting and/or receiving, by a radio node. Thebandwidth part may be smaller than the bandwidth (which may be a devicebandwidth defined by the circuitry/configuration of a device, and/or asystem bandwidth, e.g. available for a RAN). It may be considered that abandwidth part comprises one or more resource blocks or resource blockgroups, in particular one or more PRBs or PRB groups. A bandwidth partmay pertain to, and/or comprise, one or more carriers. A resource poolor region or set may generally comprise one or a plurality (inparticular, two or a multiple of two larger than two) of resources orresource structures. A resource or resource structure may comprise oneor more resource elements (in particular, two or a multiple of twolarger than two), or one or more PRBs or PRB groups (in particular, twoor a multiple of two larger than two), which may be continuous infrequency. A Control CHannel Element (CCE) may be considered an exampleof a resource structure, in particular for control signaling, e.g. DCIor SCI.

A carrier may generally represent a frequency range or band and/orpertain to a central frequency and an associated frequency interval. Itmay be considered that a carrier comprises a plurality of subcarriers. Acarrier may have assigned to it a central frequency or center frequencyinterval, e.g. represented by one or more subcarriers (to eachsubcarrier there may be generally assigned a frequency bandwidth orinterval). Different carriers may be non-overlapping, and/or may beneighboring in frequency domain.

It should be noted that the term “radio” in this disclosure may beconsidered to pertain to wireless communication in general, and may alsoinclude wireless communication utilising microwave and/or millimeterand/or other frequencies, in particular between 100 MHz or 1 GHz, and100 GHz or 20 or 10 GHz. Such communication may utilise one or morecarriers.

A radio node, in particular a network node or a terminal, may generallybe any device adapted for transmitting and/or receiving radio and/orwireless signals and/or data, in particular communication data, inparticular on at least one carrier. The at least one carrier maycomprise a carrier accessed based on a LBT procedure (which may becalled LBT carrier), e.g., an unlicensed carrier. It may be consideredthat the carrier is part of a carrier aggregate.

Receiving or transmitting on a cell or carrier may refer to receiving ortransmitting utilizing a frequency (band) or spectrum associated to thecell or carrier. A cell may generally comprise and/or be defined by orfor one or more carriers, in particular at least one carrier for ULcommunication/transmission (called UL carrier) and at least one carrierfor DL communication/transmission (called DL carrier). It may beconsidered that a cell comprises different numbers of UL carriers and DLcarriers. Alternatively, or additionally, a cell may comprise at leastone carrier for UL communication/transmission and DLcommunication/transmission, e.g., in TDD-based approaches.

A channel may generally be a logical, transport or physical channel. Achannel may comprise and/or be arranged on one or more carriers, inparticular a plurality of subcarriers. A channel carrying and/or forcarrying control signaling/control information may be considered acontrol channel, in particular if it is a physical layer channel and/orif it carries control plane information. Analogously, a channel carryingand/or for carrying data signaling/user information may be considered adata channel, in particular if it is a physical layer channel and/or ifit carries user plane information. A channel may be defined for aspecific communication direction, or for two complementary communicationdirections (e.g., UL and DL, or sidelink in two directions), in whichcase it may be considered to have two component channels, one for eachdirection. Examples of channels comprise a channel for low latencyand/or high reliability transmission, in particular a channel forUltra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), which may be forcontrol and/or data.

In general, a symbol may represent and/or be associated to a symbol timelength, which may be dependent on the carrier and/or subcarrier spacingand/or numerology of the associated carrier. Accordingly, a symbol maybe considered to indicate a time interval having a symbol time length inrelation to frequency domain. A symbol time length may be dependent on acarrier frequency and/or bandwidth and/or numerology and/or subcarrierspacing of, or associated to, a symbol. Accordingly, different symbolsmay have different symbol time lengths. In particular, numerologies withdifferent subcarrier spacings may have different symbol time length.Generally, a symbol time length may be based on, and/or include, a guardtime interval or cyclic extension, e.g. prefix or postfix.

A sidelink may generally represent a communication channel (or channelstructure) between two UEs and/or terminals, in which data istransmitted between the participants (UEs and/or terminals) via thecommunication channel, e.g. directly and/or without being relayed via anetwork node. A sidelink may be established only and/or directly via airinterface/s of the participant, which may be directly linked via thesidelink communication channel. In some variants, sidelink communicationmay be performed without interaction by a network node, e.g. on fixedlydefined resources and/or on resources negotiated between theparticipants. Alternatively, or additionally, it may be considered thata network node provides some control functionality, e.g. by configuringresources, in particular one or more resource pool/s, for sidelinkcommunication, and/or monitoring a sidelink, e.g. for charging purposes.

Sidelink communication may also be referred to as device-to-device (D2D)communication, and/or in some cases as ProSe (Proximity Services)communication, e.g. in the context of LTE. A sidelink may be implementedin the context of V2x communication (Vehicular communication), e.g. V2V(Vehicle-to-Vehicle), V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure) and/or V2P(Vehicle-to-Person). Any device adapted for sidelink communication maybe considered a user equipment or terminal.

A sidelink communication channel (or structure) may comprise one or more(e.g., physical or logical) channels, e.g. a PSCCH (Physical SidelinkControl CHannel, which may for example carry control information like anacknowledgement position indication, and/or a PSSCH (Physical SidelinkShared CHannel, which for example may carry data and/or acknowledgementsignaling). It may be considered that a sidelink communication channel(or structure) pertains to and/or used one or more carrier/s and/orfrequency range/s associated to, and/or being used by, cellularcommunication, e.g. according to a specific license and/or standard.Participants may share a (physical) channel and/or resources, inparticular in frequency domain and/or related to a frequency resourcelike a carrier) of a sidelink, such that two or more participantstransmit thereon, e.g. simultaneously, and/or time-shifted, and/or theremay be associated specific channels and/or resources to specificparticipants, so that for example only one participant transmits on aspecific channel or on a specific resource or specific resources, e.g.,in frequency domain and/or related to one or more carriers orsubcarriers.

A sidelink may comply with, and/or be implemented according to, aspecific standard, e.g. a LTE-based standard and/or NR. A sidelink mayutilise TDD (Time Division Duplex) and/or FDD (Frequency DivisionDuplex) technology, e.g. as configured by a network node, and/orpreconfigured and/or negotiated between the participants. A userequipment may be considered to be adapted for sidelink communication ifit, and/or its radio circuitry and/or processing circuitry, is adaptedfor utilising a sidelink, e.g. on one or more frequency ranges and/orcarriers and/or in one or more formats, in particular according to aspecific standard. It may be generally considered that a Radio AccessNetwork is defined by two participants of a sidelink communication.Alternatively, or additionally, a Radio Access Network may berepresented, and/or defined with, and/or be related to a network nodeand/or communication with such a node.

Communication or communicating may generally comprise transmittingand/or receiving signaling. Communication on a sidelink (or sidelinksignaling) may comprise utilising the sidelink for communication(respectively, for signaling). Sidelink transmission and/or transmittingon a sidelink may be considered to comprise transmission utilising thesidelink, e.g. associated resources and/or transmission formats and/orcircuitry and/or the air interface. Sidelink reception and/or receivingon a sidelink may be considered to comprise reception utilising thesidelink, e.g. associated resources and/or transmission formats and/orcircuitry and/or the air interface. Sidelink control information (e.g.,SCI) may generally be considered to comprise control informationtransmitted utilising a sidelink.

Generally, carrier aggregation (CA) may refer to the concept of a radioconnection and/or communication link between a wireless and/or cellularcommunication network and/or network node and a terminal or on asidelink comprising a plurality of carriers for at least one directionof transmission (e.g. DL and/or UL), as well as to the aggregate ofcarriers. A corresponding communication link may be referred to ascarrier aggregated communication link or CA communication link; carriersin a carrier aggregate may be referred to as component carriers (CC). Insuch a link, data may be transmitted over more than one of the carriersand/or all the carriers of the carrier aggregation (the aggregate ofcarriers). A carrier aggregation may comprise one (or more) dedicatedcontrol carriers and/or primary carriers (which may e.g. be referred toas primary component carrier or PCC), over which control information maybe transmitted, wherein the control information may refer to the primarycarrier and other carriers, which may be referred to as secondarycarriers (or secondary component carrier, SCC). However, in someapproaches, control information may be send over more than one carrierof an aggregate, e.g. one or more PCCs and one PCC and one or more SCCs.

A transmission may generally pertain to a specific channel and/orspecific resources, in particular with a starting symbol and endingsymbol in time, covering the interval therebetween. A scheduledtransmission may be a transmission scheduled and/or expected and/or forwhich resources are scheduled or provided or reserved. However, notevery scheduled transmission has to be realized. For example, ascheduled downlink transmission may not be received, or a scheduleduplink transmission may not be transmitted due to power limitations, orother influences (e.g., a channel on an unlicensed carrier beingoccupied). A transmission may be scheduled for a transmission timingsubstructure (e.g., a mini-slot, and/or covering only a part of atransmission timing structure) within a transmission timing structurelike a slot. A border symbol may be indicative of a symbol in thetransmission timing structure at which the transmission starts or ends.

Predefined in the context of this disclosure may refer to the relatedinformation being defined for example in a standard, and/or beingavailable without specific configuration from a network or network node,e.g. stored in memory, for example independent of being configured.Configured or configurable may be considered to pertain to thecorresponding information being set/configured, e.g. by the network or anetwork node.

A configuration or schedule, like a mini-slot configuration and/orstructure configuration, may schedule transmissions, e.g. for thetime/transmissions it is valid, and/or transmissions may be scheduled byseparate signaling or separate configuration, e.g. separate RRCsignaling and/or downlink control information signaling. Thetransmission/s scheduled may represent signaling to be transmitted bythe device for which it is scheduled, or signaling to be received by thedevice for which it is scheduled, depending on which side of acommunication the device is. It should be noted that downlink controlinformation or specifically DCI signaling may be considered physicallayer signaling, in contrast to higher layer signaling like MAC (MediumAccess Control) signaling or RRC layer signaling. The higher the layerof signaling is, the less frequent/the more time/resource consuming itmay be considered, at least partially due to the information containedin such signaling having to be passed on through several layers, eachlayer requiring processing and handling.

A scheduled transmission, and/or transmission timing structure like amini-slot or slot, may pertain to a specific channel, in particular aphysical uplink shared channel, a physical uplink control channel, or aphysical downlink shared channel, e.g. PUSCH, PUCCH or PDSCH, and/or maypertain to a specific cell and/or carrier aggregation. A correspondingconfiguration, e.g. scheduling configuration or symbol configuration maypertain to such channel, cell and/or carrier aggregation. It may beconsidered that the scheduled transmission represents transmission on aphysical channel, in particular a shared physical channel, for example aphysical uplink shared channel or physical downlink shared channel. Forsuch channels, semi-persistent configuring may be particularly suitable.

Generally, a configuration may be a configuration indicating timing,and/or be represented or configured with corresponding configurationdata. A configuration may be embedded in, and/or comprised in, a messageor configuration or corresponding data, which may indicate and/orschedule resources, in particular semi-persistently and/orsemi-statically. In general, a configuration, in particular the feedbackconfiguration and/or a codebook configuration or a set thereof, may beconfigured based on one or more messages. Such messages may beassociated to different layers, and/or there may be at least one messagefor dynamical configuration and/or at least one message for semi-staticconfiguration. Different messages may configure different or similar orthe same parameter/s and/or setting/s; in some cases, dynamicconfiguration, e.g. with DCI/SCI signaling, may override semi-staticconfiguration, and/or may indicate a selection from a set ofconfigurations, which may e.g. be pre-defined and/or configured withhigher layer/semi-static configuration. In particular, a configurationlike a feedback configuration may be configured with one or more RadioResource Control (RRC) messages and/or one or more Medium Access Control(MAC) messages and/or one or more Control Information messages, e.g.Downlink Control Information (DCI) messages and/or Sidelink ControlInformation (SCI) messages.

A control region of a transmission timing structure may be an intervalin time for intended or scheduled or reserved for control signaling, inparticular downlink control signaling, and/or for a specific controlchannel, e.g. a physical downlink control channel like PDCCH. Theinterval may comprise, and/or consist of, a number of symbols in time,which may be configured or configurable, e.g. by (UE-specific) dedicatedsignaling (which may be single-cast, for example addressed to orintended for a specific UE), e.g. on a PDCCH, or RRC signaling, or on amulticast or broadcast channel. In general, the transmission timingstructure may comprise a control region covering a configurable numberof symbols. It may be considered that in general the border symbol isconfigured to be after the control region in time.

The duration of a symbol (symbol time length or interval) of thetransmission timing structure may generally be dependent on a numerologyand/or carrier, wherein the numerology and/or carrier may beconfigurable. The numerology may be the numerology to be used for thescheduled transmission.

Scheduling a device, or for a device, and/or related transmission orsignaling, may be considered comprising, or being a form of, configuringthe device with resources, and/or of indicating to the device resources,e.g. to use for communicating. Scheduling may in particular pertain to atransmission timing structure, or a substructure thereof (e.g., a slotor a mini-slot, which may be considered a substructure of a slot). Itmay be considered that a border symbol may be identified and/ordetermined in relation to the transmission timing structure even if fora substructure being scheduled, e.g. if an underlying timing grid isdefined based on the transmission timing structure. Signaling indicatingscheduling may comprise corresponding scheduling information and/or beconsidered to represent or contain configuration data indicating thescheduled transmission and/or comprising scheduling information. Suchconfiguration data or signaling may be considered a resourceconfiguration or scheduling configuration. It should be noted that sucha configuration (in particular as single message) in some cases may notbe complete without other configuration data, e.g. configured with othersignaling, e.g. higher layer signaling. In particular, the symbolconfiguration may be provided in addition to scheduling/resourceconfiguration to identify exactly which symbols are assigned to ascheduled transmission. A scheduling (or resource) configuration mayindicate transmission timing structure/s and/or resource amount (e.g.,in number of symbols or length in time) for a scheduled transmission.

A scheduled transmission may be transmission scheduled, e.g. by thenetwork or network node. Transmission may in this context may be uplink(UL) or downlink (DL) or sidelink (SL) transmission. A device, e.g. auser equipment, for which the scheduled transmission is scheduled, mayaccordingly be scheduled to receive (e.g., in DL or SL), or to transmit(e.g. in UL or SL) the scheduled transmission. Scheduling transmissionmay in particular be considered to comprise configuring a scheduleddevice with resource/s for this transmission, and/or informing thedevice that the transmission is intended and/or scheduled for someresources. A transmission may be scheduled to cover a time interval, inparticular a successive number of symbols, which may form a continuousinterval in time between (and including) a starting symbol and an endingsymbols. The starting symbol and the ending symbol of a (e.g.,scheduled) transmission may be within the same transmission timingstructure, e.g. the same slot. However, in some cases, the ending symbolmay be in a later transmission timing structure than the startingsymbol, in particular a structure following in time. To a scheduledtransmission, a duration may be associated and/or indicated, e.g. in anumber of symbols or associated time intervals. In some variants, theremay be different transmissions scheduled in the same transmission timingstructure. A scheduled transmission may be considered to be associatedto a specific channel, e.g. a shared channel like PUSCH or PDSCH.

In the context of this disclosure, there may be distinguished betweendynamically scheduled or aperiodic transmission and/or configuration,and semi-static or semi-persistent or periodic transmission and/orconfiguration. The term “dynamic” or similar terms may generally pertainto configuration/transmission valid and/or scheduled and/or configuredfor (relatively) short timescales and/or a (e.g., predefined and/orconfigured and/or limited and/or definite) number of occurrences and/ortransmission timing structures, e.g. one or more transmission timingstructures like slots or slot aggregations, and/or for one or more(e.g., specific number) of transmission/occurrences. Dynamicconfiguration may be based on low-level signaling, e.g. controlsignaling on the physical layer and/or MAC layer, in particular in theform of DCI or SCI. Periodic/semi-static may pertain to longertimescales, e.g. several slots and/or more than one frame, and/or anon-defined number of occurrences, e.g., until a dynamic configurationcontradicts, or until a new periodic configuration arrives. A periodicor semi-static configuration may be based on, and/or be configured with,higher-layer signaling, in particular RCL layer signaling and/or RRCsignaling and/or MAC signaling.

A transmission timing structure may comprise a plurality of symbols,and/or define an interval comprising several symbols (respectively theirassociated time intervals). In the context of this disclosure, it shouldbe noted that a reference to a symbol for ease of reference may beinterpreted to refer to the time domain projection or time interval ortime component or duration or length in time of the symbol, unless it isclear from the context that the frequency domain component also has tobe considered. Examples of transmission timing structures include slot,subframe, mini-slot (which also may be considered a substructure of aslot), slot aggregation (which may comprise a plurality of slots and maybe considered a superstructure of a slot), respectively their timedomain component. A transmission timing structure may generally comprisea plurality of symbols defining the time domain extension (e.g.,interval or length or duration) of the transmission timing structure,and arranged neighboring to each other in a numbered sequence. A timingstructure (which may also be considered or implemented assynchronisation structure) may be defined by a succession of suchtransmission timing structures, which may for example define a timinggrid with symbols representing the smallest grid structures. Atransmission timing structure, and/or a border symbol or a scheduledtransmission may be determined or scheduled in relation to such a timinggrid. A transmission timing structure of reception may be thetransmission timing structure in which the scheduling control signalingis received, e.g. in relation to the timing grid. A transmission timingstructure may in particular be a slot or subframe or in some cases, amini-slot.

Feedback signaling may be considered a form or control signaling, e.g.uplink or sidelink control signaling, like UCI (Uplink ControlInformation) signaling or SCI (Sidelink Control Information) signaling.Feedback signaling may in particular comprise and/or representacknowledgement signaling and/or acknowledgement information and/ormeasurement reporting.

Transmitting feedback signaling may be based on, and/or comprise,determining feedback information, e.g. one or more bits representing thefeedback information. Determining feedback information may compriseperforming demodulation and/or error decoding and/or error detectionand/or error correction, and/or determining one or more bits ofacknowledgement information, e.g. pertaining to the subjecttransmission, and/or represented by an associated subpattern.Alternatively, or additionally, it may comprise performing measurement/son the subject transmission, e.g. for demodulation, and/or for providingmeasurement information and/or for measurement reporting. In some cases,it may comprise determining a scheduling request, and/or providingscheduling-related information, e.g. regarding a buffer status.Transmitting feedback signaling may generally comprise, and/or be basedon, determining feedback information, e.g. one or more feedback orACK/NACK bits. Such determining may comprise performing error decoding,e.g. based on error coding bits, e.g. CRC and/or FEC bits associated tothe subject transmission, e.g. data or control information, which may beincluded in the subject transmission. Error decoding may comprisecorrecting information, for example based on FEC bits. The error codingbits may be determined based on the information content bits, e.g.utilising an error coding scheme like CRC, and/or polar coding or LDPCcoding or Reed Muller coding. The information content may be representedby bits. The information, and in some cases error coding bits associatedthereto like error detection bits and/or error correction bits, like CRCand/or FEC bits, may be considered to represent one or more datastructures or substructures, for each of which one or more feedbackbits, e.g. to indicate ACK or NACK, may be included in theacknowledgement feedback. Thus, at least one bit may be provided for adata structure and/or the whole of the information and/or a messagecarrying it, and/or one bit may be provided for one or moresubstructures thereof, to which corresponding error coding may beassociated and/or provided, e.g. in the message or signaling. A messagemay be considered to be similar to a transport block and/or a code blockgroup. One or more acknowledgement process identifiers like a HARQ orARQ identifier may be associated to the subject transmission. A bitsubpattern representing reception (e.g., ACK/NACK or DTX/DRX) may begenerally associated to the information in the acknowledgement feedback(acknowledgment feedback may refer to feedback information representingacknowledgement information).

Control information may generally be transmitted in a control message,e.g. on a physical layer or channel, e.g. as a dynamic message like aDCI message or SCI message. A control message may be a command typemessage, which may comprise, and/or consist of, command typeinformation; or a scheduling type message, which may comprise schedulinginformation, e.g. scheduling data signaling. Control information maycomprise scheduling type control information (or, shorter, schedulingtype information), e.g. control information indicating resources and/ortransmission parameters for reception of signaling, and/or controlinformation indicating resources and/or transmission parameters fortransmission of signaling. The signaling may in particular be datasignaling, e.g. on a data channel. Control information may in particularcomprise, or consist of, command type control information, and/or beincluded into a command type message. In general, control information orcontrol message, e.g. DCI or SCI messages, may be distinguished betweenscheduling type information/messages and command typeinformation/messages. A scheduling type message may scheduletransmission on a data channel (data signaling), e.g. for reception ortransmission for the target radio node, e.g. in downlink or uplink,respectively. Scheduling grant and scheduling assignment are examples ofsuch scheduling type messages. A command type message may be a messageof a different type, e.g., not scheduling transmission on a datachannel. A command type message may comprise a set of instructions,which may be configurable or flexible. The instructions may bescheduling-independent. Command type information may for exampleindicate and/or instruct switching of bandwidth, e.g. to anotherbandwidth part, and/or activation or deactivation of a carrier and/orcell and/or bandwidth part, and/or activation or deactivation ofgrant-free transmissions, and/or indications of selection a parameter orconfiguration out of a set of configured parameters or configurations.In some variants, a command type message may be scheduling independentsuch that it does not schedule data signaling, or it may have astructure in which such scheduling may be configurable or optional. Forthe command type, there may be no scheduled transmission based on whichreception of the control information may be inferred. It should be notedthat scheduling type messages may comprise command type information.Feedback information may be considered a form of control information, inparticular UCI or SCI, depending on communication direction or mode.Feedback signaling may be considered a form of control signaling. Acontrol message comprising feedback information may be considered to beof a further type, which may be referred to as feedback type message,which may include a request for resources or in general UCI or UCI-likeinformation in sidelink or backhaul or relay link.

Acknowledgement information may comprise an indication of a specificvalue or state for an acknowledgement signaling process, e.g. ACK orNACK or DTX. Such an indication may for example represent a bit or bitvalue or bit pattern or an information switch. Different levels ofacknowledgement information, e.g. providing differentiated informationabout quality of reception and/or error position in received dataelement/s may be considered and/or represented by control signaling.Acknowledgment information may generally indicate acknowledgment ornon-acknowledgment or non-reception or different levels thereof, e.g.representing ACK or NACK or DTX. Acknowledgment information may pertainto one acknowledgement signaling process. Acknowledgement signaling maycomprise acknowledgement information pertaining to one or moreacknowledgement signaling processes, in particular one or more HARQ orARQ processes. It may be considered that to each acknowledgmentsignaling process the acknowledgement information pertains to, aspecific number of bits of the information size of the control signalingis assigned. Measurement reporting signaling may comprise measurementinformation.

Signaling may generally comprise one or more symbols and/or signalsand/or messages. A signal may comprise and/or represent one or morebits, which may be modulated into a common modulated signal. Anindication may represent signaling, and/or be implemented as a signal,or as a plurality of signals. One or more signals may be included inand/or represented by a message. Signaling, in particular controlsignaling, may comprise a plurality of signals and/or messages, whichmay be transmitted on different carriers and/or be associated todifferent acknowledgement signaling processes, e.g. representing and/orpertaining to one or more such processes. An indication may comprisesignaling and/or a plurality of signals and/or messages and/or may becomprised therein, which may be transmitted on different carriers and/orbe associated to different acknowledgement signaling processes, e.g.representing and/or pertaining to one or more such processes.

Signaling utilising, and/or on and/or associated to, resources or aresource structure may be signaling covering the resources or structure,signaling on the associated frequency/ies and/or in the associated timeinterval/s. It may be considered that a signaling resource structurecomprises and/or encompasses one or more substructures, which may beassociated to one or more different channels and/or types of signalingand/or comprise one or more holes (resource element/s not scheduled fortransmissions or reception of transmissions). A resource substructure,e.g. a feedback resource structure, may generally be continuous in timeand/or frequency, within the associated intervals. It may be consideredthat a substructure, in particular a feedback resource structure,represents a rectangle filled with one or more resource elements intime/frequency space. However, in some cases, a resource structure orsubstructure, in particular a frequency resource range, may represent anon-continuous pattern of resources in one or more domains, e.g. timeand/or frequency. The resource elements of a substructure may bescheduled for associated signaling.

It should generally be noted that the number of bits or a bit rateassociated to specific signaling that can be carried on a resourceelement may be based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS). Thus, bitsor a bit rate may be seen as a form of resources representing a resourcestructure or range in frequency and/or time, e.g. depending on MCS. TheMCS may be configured or configurable, e.g. by control signaling, e.g.DCI or MAC (Medium Access Control) or RRC (Radio Resource Control)signaling.

Different formats of for control information may be considered, e.g.different formats for a control channel like a Physical Uplink ControlChannel (PUCCH). PUCCH may carry control information or correspondingcontrol signaling, e.g. Uplink Control Information (UCI). UCI maycomprise feedback signaling, and/or acknowledgement signaling like HARQfeedback (ACK/NACK), and/or measurement information signaling, e.g.comprising Channel Quality Information (CQI), and/or Scheduling Request(SR) signaling. One of the supported PUCCH formats may be short, and maye.g. occur at the end of a slot interval, and/or multiplexed and/orneighboring to PUSCH. Similar control information may be provided on asidelink, e.g. as Sidelink Control Information (SCI), in particular on a(physical) sidelink control channel, like a (P)SCCH.

A code block may be considered a subelement or substructure of a dataelement or data block like a transport block, e.g., a transport blockmay comprise a one or a plurality of code blocks.

A scheduling assignment may be configured with control signaling, e.g.downlink control signaling or sidelink control signaling. Such controlssignaling may be considered to represent and/or comprise schedulingsignaling, which may indicate scheduling information. A schedulingassignment may be considered scheduling information indicatingscheduling of signaling/transmission of signaling, in particularpertaining to signaling received or to be received by the deviceconfigured with the scheduling assignment. It may be considered that ascheduling assignment may indicate data (e.g., data block or elementand/or channel and/or data stream) and/or an (associated)acknowledgement signaling process and/or resource/s on which the data(or, in some cases, reference signaling) is to be received and/orindicate resource/s for associated feedback signaling, and/or a feedbackresource range on which associated feedback signaling is to betransmitted. Transmission associated to an acknowledgement signalingprocess, and/or the associated resources or resource structure, may beconfigured and/or scheduled, for example by a scheduling assignment.Different scheduling assignments may be associated to differentacknowledgement signaling processes. A scheduling assignment may beconsidered an example of downlink control information or signaling, e.g.if transmitted by a network node and/or provided on downlink (orsidelink control information if transmitted using a sidelink and/or by auser equipment).

A scheduling grant (e.g., uplink grant) may represent control signaling(e.g., downlink control information/signaling). It may be consideredthat a scheduling grant configures the signaling resource range and/orresources for uplink (or sidelink) signaling, in particular uplinkcontrol signaling and/or feedback signaling, e.g. acknowledgementsignaling. Configuring the signaling resource range and/or resources maycomprise configuring or scheduling it for transmission by the configuredradio node. A scheduling grant may indicate a channel and/or possiblechannels to be used/usable for the feedback signaling, in particularwhether a shared channel like a PUSCH may be used/is to be used. Ascheduling grant may generally indicate uplink resource/s and/or anuplink channel and/or a format for control information pertaining toassociated scheduling assignments. Both grant and assignment/s may beconsidered (downlink or sidelink) control information, and/or beassociated to, and/or transmitted with, different messages.

A resource structure in frequency domain (which may be referred to asfrequency interval and/or range) may be represented by a subcarriergrouping. A subcarrier grouping may comprise one or more subcarriers,each of which may represent a specific frequency interval, and/orbandwidth. The bandwidth of a subcarrier, the length of the interval infrequency domain, may be determined by the subcarrier spacing and/ornumerology. The subcarriers may be arranged such that each subcarrierneighbours at least one other subcarrier of the grouping in frequencyspace (for grouping sizes larger than 1). The subcarriers of a groupingmay be associated to the same carrier, e.g. configurably or configuredof predefined. A physical resource block may be consideredrepresentative of a grouping (in frequency domain). A subcarriergrouping may be considered to be associated to a specific channel and/ortype of signaling, it transmission for such channel or signaling isscheduled and/or transmitted and/or intended and/or configured for atleast one, or a plurality, or all subcarriers in the grouping. Suchassociation may be time-dependent, e.g. configured or configurable orpredefined, and/or dynamic or semi-static. The association may bedifferent for different devices, e.g. configured or configurable orpredefined, and/or dynamic or semi-static. Patterns of subcarriergroupings may be considered, which may comprise one or more subcarriergroupings (which may be associated to same or differentsignalings/channels), and/or one or more groupings without associatedsignaling (e.g., as seen from a specific device). An example of apattern is a comb, for which between pairs of groupings associated tothe same signaling/channel there are arranged one or more groupingsassociated to one or more different channels and/or signaling types,and/or one or more groupings without associated channel/signaling).

Rate-matching may comprise including the rate-matched information into abit-stream before encoding and/or modulating, e.g. replacing bits ofdata. Puncturing may comprise replacing modulated symbols with modulatedsymbols representing the punctured information.

Example types of signaling comprise signaling of a specificcommunication direction, in particular, uplink signaling, downlinksignaling, sidelink signaling, as well as reference signaling (e.g., SRSor CRS or CSI-RS), communication signaling, control signaling, and/orsignaling associated to a specific channel like PUSCH, PDSCH, PUCCH,PDCCH, PSCCH, PSSCH, etc.).

Operational conditions may pertain to load of the RAN, or application oruse case of transmission or signaling, and/or quality of service (QoS)conditions (or requirements) for a transmission or signaling. QoS mayfor example pertain to data rate and/or priority and/or latency and/ortransmission quality, e.g. BLER or BER. Use for URLLC may be considereda quality of service-related condition.

In this disclosure, for purposes of explanation and not limitation,specific details are set forth (such as particular network functions,processes and signaling steps) in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the technique presented herein. It will be apparent toone skilled in the art that the present concepts and aspects may bepracticed in other variants and variants that depart from these specificdetails.

For example, the concepts and variants are partially described in thecontext of Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) or NewRadio mobile or wireless communications technologies; however, this doesnot rule out the use of the present concepts and aspects in connectionwith additional or alternative mobile communication technologies such asthe Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). While describedvariants may pertain to certain Technical Specifications (TSs) of theThird Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), it will be appreciated thatthe present approaches, concepts and aspects could also be realized inconnection with different Performance Management (PM) specifications.

Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the services,functions and steps explained herein may be implemented using softwarefunctioning in conjunction with a programmed microprocessor, or using anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or a generalpurpose computer. It will also be appreciated that while the variantsdescribed herein are elucidated in the context of methods and devices,the concepts and aspects presented herein may also be embodied in aprogram product as well as in a system comprising control circuitry,e.g. a computer processor and a memory coupled to the processor, whereinthe memory is encoded with one or more programs or program products thatexecute the services, functions and steps disclosed herein.

It is believed that the advantages of the aspects and variants presentedherein will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and itwill be apparent that various changes may be made in the form,constructions and arrangement of the exemplary aspects thereof withoutdeparting from the scope of the concepts and aspects described herein orwithout sacrificing all of its advantageous effects. The aspectspresented herein can be varied in many ways.

Some useful abbreviations comprise

Abbreviation Explanation ACK/NACK Acknowledgment/NegativeAcknowledgement ARQ Automatic Repeat reQuest CAZAC Constant AmplitudeZero Cross Correlation CBG Code Block Group CCE Control Channel ElementCDM Code Division Multiplex CM Cubic Metric CORESET Control channelResource Set CQI Channel Quality Information CRC Cyclic Redundancy CheckCRS Common reference signal CSI Channel State Information CSI-RS Channelstate information reference signal DAI Downlink Assignment Indicator DCIDownlink Control Information DFT Discrete Fourier Transform DM(−)RSDemodulation reference signal(ing) FDD/FDM Frequency DivisionDuplex/Multiplex HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request IFFT Inverse FastFourier Transform MBB Mobile Broadband MCS Modulation and Coding SchemeMIMO Multiple-input-multiple-output MRC Maximum-ratio combining MRTMaximum-ratio transmission MU-MIMO Multiusermultiple-input-multiple-output OFDM/A Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiplex/Multiple Access PAPR Peak to Average Power Ratio PDCCHPhysical Downlink Control Channel PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared ChannelPRACH Physical Random Access CHannel PRB Physical Resource Block PUCCHPhysical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel(P)SCCH (Physical) Sidelink Control Channel (P)SSCH (Physical) SidelinkShared Channel QoS Quality of Service RB Resource Block RNTI RadioNetwork Temporary Identifier RRC Radio Resource Control SC-FDM/A SingleCarrier Frequency Division Multiplex/Multiple Access SCI SidelinkControl Information SINR Signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio SIRSignal-to-interference ratio SNR Signal-to-noise-ratio SR SchedulingRequest SRS Sounding Reference Signal(ing) SVD Singular-valuedecomposition TDD/TDM Time Division Duplex/Multiplex UCI Uplink ControlInformation UE User Equipment URLLC Ultra Low Latency High ReliabilityCommunication VL-MIMO Very-large multiple-input-multiple-output ZF ZeroForcing

Abbreviations may be considered to follow 3GPP usage if applicable.

1. A method of operating a feedback radio node in a radio accessnetwork, the feedback radio node being configured with a plurality ofsets of transmission resources for transmission of control information,different of the sets being associated with at least one of differentsize classes of control information and different transmission formatsfor control information to be transmitted, the method comprising:transmitting control information comprising a number A of bits ofacknowledgement information, and a number M of bits of measurementinformation, the control information being transmitted on a resource ofone of the sets based on a reference size for the measurementinformation.
 2. A feedback radio node for a radio access network, thefeedback radio node being configured for: being one of configured andconfigurable with a plurality of sets of transmission resources fortransmission of control information, different of the sets beingassociated with at least one of different size classes of controlinformation and different transmission formats for control informationto be transmitted; and transmitting control information comprisingnumber A of bits of acknowledgement information, and a number M of bitsof measurement information, the control information being transmitted ona resource of one of the sets based on a reference size for themeasurement information.
 3. A method of operating a signaling radio nodein a radio access network, the method comprising: receiving controlinformation from a feedback radio node, the feedback radio node beingconfigured with a plurality of sets of resources for transmission ofcontrol information, different of the sets being associated with atleast one of different size classes of control information and differenttransmission formats for control information to be transmitted; thecontrol information comprises comprising a number A of bits ofacknowledgement information, and a number M of bits of measurementinformation; and the control information is received on a receptionresource, the reception resource being associated to a resource of oneof the set of resources on which the control information is transmittedbased on a reference size for the measurement information.
 4. Asignaling radio node for a radio access network, the signaling radionode being configured to: receive control information from a feedbackradio node, the control information comprising a number A of bits ofacknowledgement information, and a number M of bits of measurementinformation, the feedback radio node being configured with a pluralityof sets of resources for transmission of control information, differentof the sets being associated with at least one of different size classesof control information and different transmission formats for controlinformation; and receive the control information on a receptionresource, the reception resource being associated to a resource of oneof the set of resources on which the control information is transmittedbased on a reference size for the measurement information.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the measurement information compriseschannel state information.
 6. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe measurement information comprises at least one information pairing,each information pairing comprising a first component and a secondcomponent, wherein the second component of each information pairing hasan adaptive size.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein themeasurement information comprises at least one information pairing, eachinformation pairing comprising a first component and a second component,wherein the first component of each information pairing comprises a sizeindication indicating a size of the second component.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the set of resources is based on thereference size.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the number Mof bits of the measurement information is based on one of the format andthe size range associated to the set of transmission resources of theresource the control information is transmitted on.
 10. A computerstorage medium storing executable program instructions that whenexecuted, cause processing circuitry to at least one of control andperform a method of operating a feedback radio node in a radio accessnetwork, the feedback radio node being configured with a plurality ofsets of transmission resources for transmission of control information,different of the sets being associated with at least one of differentsize classes of control information and different transmission formatsfor control information to be transmitted, the method comprising:transmitting control information comprising a number A of bits ofacknowledgement information, and a number M of bits of measurementinformation, the control information being transmitted on a resource ofone of the sets based on a reference size for the measurementinformation.
 11. (canceled)
 12. The feedback radio node according toclaim 2, wherein the measurement information comprises channel stateinformation.
 13. The feedback radio node according to claim 2, whereinthe measurement information comprises at least one information pairing,each information pairing comprising a first component and a secondcomponent, wherein the second component of each information pairing hasan adaptive size.
 14. The feedback radio node according to claim 2,wherein the measurement information comprises at least one informationpairing, each information pairing comprising a first component and asecond component, wherein the first component of each informationpairing comprises a size indication indicating a size of the secondcomponent.
 15. The feedback radio node according to claim 2, wherein theset of resources is based on the reference size.
 16. The feedback radionode according to claim 2, wherein the number M of bits of themeasurement information is based on one of the format and the size rangeassociated to the set of transmission resources of the resource thecontrol information is transmitted on.
 17. The method according to claim3, wherein the measurement information comprises channel stateinformation.
 18. The method according to claim 3, wherein themeasurement information comprises at least one information pairing, eachinformation pairing comprising a first component and a second component,wherein the second component of each information pairing has an adaptivesize.
 19. The method according to claim 3, wherein the measurementinformation comprises at least one information pairing, each informationpairing comprising a first component and a second component, wherein thefirst component of each information pairing comprises a size indicationindicating a size of the second component.
 20. The method according toclaim 3, wherein the set of resources is based on the reference size.21. The method according to claim 3, wherein the number M of bits of themeasurement information is based on one of the format and the size rangeassociated to the set of transmission resources of the resource thecontrol information is transmitted on.